Shabana Azmi, the veteran actress, is celebrating her 73rd birthday today. On this special occasion, let’s have a look at the five national award-winning performances of the legend. Shabana Azmi is unarguably one of the finest talents Indian cinema has ever produced. The legendary actress, who was seen recently in the blockbuster movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, made her acting debut in 1974 with the Shyam Benegal directorial Ankur and later established herself as one of the pioneers of arthouse cinema in the country. Unlike most of her contemporaries who preferred to be the quintessential Bollywood heroines, Shabana Azmi always picked performance-oriented roles that challenged her as an artist. As you may know, Shabana Azmi still remains the most-awarded actress in the history of the prestigious National Film Awards Best Actress category. The veteran actress bagged the honour five times – in 1975, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1999. She also holds the record of being the only actress who won the Best Actress trophy at the National Film Awards three times consecutively.