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September is the birth month of three screen icons, so a look at their lives and careers is in order. Not only are these three great actresses, but they have been strong, independent, inspiring women.

The famously reclusive Greta Garbo (September 18, 1905) has a syndrome named after her to describe people who have withdrawn socially, like she did, declaring, “I want to be alone.” This was, however, after a successful and fulfilling career with films like Queen Christina, Camille, Mata Hari, Ninotchka, and Anna Karenina to remember her by. The Swedish-born star, known for playing mostly tragic characters, is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of all time.

Ruling at the top of the silent era, when her first talkie, Anna Christie came out in 1930, the film had the tagline, "Garbo talks!" The first line she uttered was, "Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side, and don't be stingy, baby.” The film won her one of her four Academy Award nominations.

The movie business of that period could not have been easy on women, with the exploitative nature of the studio system, but her talent and success gave her leeway to break norms. Even before she retired, she was strict about her privacy. No visitors were allowed on the sets, not even the studio bosses; she had screens installed so that others on the set could not watch her. She claimed she could not act unless she was by herself.

She avoided parties and did not even go to the Oscars when she was nominated; she never signed autographs or answered fan mail; and she rarely gave interviews. In a letter to her friend (source: the net), Austrian actress and writer Salka Viertel, she wrote, “I go nowhere, see no one... It is hard and sad to be alone, but sometimes it's even more difficult to be with someone,” and years later, “I feel very tired and cannot seem to get myself together to plan where to go... I am sorry, but something always seems to go a little wrong with me, and it is not in my head either.”

She never spoke about why she quit Hollywood, though a few years before her death, she told her biographer Sven Broman, "I was tired of Hollywood. I did not like my work. There were many days when I had to force myself to go to the studio... I really wanted to live another life."

Now, there is speculation that she might have been bipolar, but back then mental health was not talked about as it is today, so those who wrote about her just mentioned her glacial reserve—she was called "Swedish Sphinx" by the media. She did have friends and relationships, and she is reported to have said that she would have liked to be left alone, not be alone, but she chose solitude.

The androgynous style of dressing, in trousers, men’s shoes and slouch hats, went against the fashion of the time and gave rise to rumours about her sexuality, but that could also have partly been because she took on the might of Hollywood studios and got higher remuneration and creative control at a time when women did not have asset power in the movie industry. Later studies on her choice of roles and lifestyle called her a feminist, but she embodied the ideals without wearing the label.

Sophia Loren (September 20, 1934) is 91 and not forgotten by movie buffs. Coming from severe poverty, she had the ambition and drive to make it big in the Italian and then American movie industries, guided to a large extent by her husband, movie producer Carlo Ponti. The films she did, and the awards and acclaim she won, were all a result of her beauty and talent, making her one of the top stars of her time.

She combined the traditional roles of wife and mother with her superstardom, though she was not known to have rocked the boat of the Hollywood system. In an interview with the BBC in 2020, she said, “The industry has definitely changed for the better for women in my lifetime, but there is still much more to do. The dream would be for people to be judged only on their skill and talent and not their gender—but for that to happen you have to level the playing field and create an environment where women get the time and the ability to practise their craft. That is why it is crucial to promote women and give them the opportunities in directing, writing and shooting films, all fields where men are and remain the predominant choice. But once we break that pattern and the playing field has been levelled, then may the best person win!”

A profile by Alexandra Pollard in The Independent notes that “she’s defied tradition and type, playing sex workers and immigrants, duplicitous spies and restless housewives, all while being dismissed by thigh-rubbing critics as a “lush and plush sexpot”, a “vamp” and “an adornment”. But she rightly says she always played strong women characters, and that might just have made a difference to the portrayal of women in mainstream movies. She is still active and works when something interesting comes her way.

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In the Hindi film industry, there’s Shabana Azmi (September 18, 1950), who celebrates a milestone birthday this year. Her contribution to Indian cinema and society as an actress and activist is well known. The roles she has chosen have advanced the cause of women; she wears her feminism with pride and wisdom and is an inspiration to women in the film industry.

With innumerable national and international awards—including five National Awards, with three of them in consecutive years for Arth, Khandhar and Paar, and the other two being for Ankur and Godmother—she has set a record that is almost impossible to break. And there are still years to go to add more awards to her shelf of achievements.

Deepa Gahlot is a Mumbai-based columnist, critic and author.

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