Saba Azad Wiki, Age, Boyfriend, Family, Caste, Biography & More

Saba Azad is an actress who plays many roles in her real life as well. Along with being a Bollywood actress, she is a theatre director, and a musician as well. Starting her career at the age of 18 with her debut film “Dil Kabaddi” (2008), she has come a long way in the industry from playing different roles to singing for several Bollywood movies.

Wiki/Biography

Saba Azad was born as Saba Singh Grewal on 1 November 1990 (age 31 years; as of 2021) in Delhi, India. She was interested in dance and acting since childhood and after her schooling, she started her journey as a theatre artist to pursue a career in acting. She is the niece of Safdar Hashmi, a great street theatre artist and director. With the influence of theatre since childhood, she grew up learning theatre and even performed with Safdar Hashmi’s theatre group, Jana Natya Manch. She is professionally trained in several dance forms like Odissi, classical ballet, jazz, Latin, and more. She travelled with Kiran Segal, her Odissi guru, to perform not only in India, but in Canada, Nepal, and England as well. Over the years, Saba has done several TV commercials for brands like Cadbury, Maggi, Tata Sky, Google, Vodafone, Nescafe, and more. Her journey towards the cinema started when she got the lead role in a short film “Guroor” directed by Ishaan Nair.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5’3″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family & Caste

She belongs to a middle-class Punjabi family from Delhi.

Parents & Siblings

Her father, PM Singh Grewal, was a professor, and her mother is a housewife. She has an elder brother who lives in Europe.

Boyfriend

After entering the Indian film industry, Saba Azad met Imaad Shah, son of actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah. They both had similar passions, and this common ground helped them get together and in 2013, Imaad Shah confirmed that they had been living together for the last one year.

In January 2022, she was spotted with Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan following which speculations about her being the secret girlfriend of the Bollywood star started doing the rounds.

Career

As an Actress

After she finished her schooling, Saba started her acting career as a theatre artist from where she landed a lead role in a short film “Guroor,” which was directed by Ishaan Nair. Her Bollywood debut took place when she got a role in the movie “Dil Kabbadi” (2008) as Raga. After this, she got a lead role in the movie “Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge” (2011) as Preity Sen. In 2010, she started her own theatre company, “The Skins” and directed her first play “Lovepuke” (2010).

As a Musician

In the year 2012, working with Imaad Shah, she started her indie electronic band “Madboy/Mink.” With her band gaining popularity amongst the youth, Saba also recorded some songs for a few Bollywood movies, like “Nautanki Saala” (2013) in which she recorded the songs, “Dhak Dhak Karne Laga” and “Dil Ki Toh Lag Gayi.” She lent her voice in the “Dhoom Anthem” (2013). She is also known for the songs, “Calcutta Kiss” in the film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), “Neend Na Mujhko Aaye” in the film Shaandaar (2015), “Dekhe Meri Aankhon Mein Jo” in the film Main Aur Charles (2015), “Bhar De Hamaare Glass” in the film Karwaan (2018) and “Nakhrewaali” in the film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (2019).

Controversies

• On 26 March 2017, Saba uploaded a picture on her Instagram in which she mentioned that her original name was Saba Singh Grewal, but she chose to change her name to Saba Azad. She did this to feel free from all the tags that are given to people, by people. She was heavily trolled by people on social media for changing her name.

• Saba Azad performed at an anti-CAA protest that took place in January 2020 at Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi. She sang the anthem of India People Theatre Association’s song, “Tu Zinda Hai.” She also recited a poem by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, “Bol Ke Lab Azad Hain Tere.” Later, a social media post went viral claiming that the protest was held to celebrate the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu & Kashmir, and Saba Azad was criticized for her participation in the protest.

Facts/Trivia

• Saba almost cried when she was shooting for “Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge” as she was asked to cut her hair short for the role of Preity Sen.

• Saba is a big-time foodie and she often posts pictures of the things she eats on her Instagram. Some of her favourite food items are eggs, salmon, and Khasi Thali (a Meghalayan delicacy). She is fond of dancing and travelling.

• She is also fond of travelling and loves attending music festivals around the world.

• The story behind their band’s name “Madboy/Mink” is that Imaad was given the name Madboy by his friends, and Saba got this nickname from her favourite music producer, Samrat B.

• Her influence on the kind of music she makes varies from different genres like blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll to different decades and centuries. Different generations and types of music have been inspiring her to work harder.

• In June 2020, she was seen together with Imaad Shah in a Netflix short-film, “Will You Be My Quarantine?”