as appeared in BT Friday 14 April 2000:-

1.Both actresses (of high calibre) who carved a niche for themselves with their first film – Ankur and Jeevan Mrityu.

2.Both married writer-cum-lyricists – Javed Akhtar and Gulzar, respectively.

3.Both are known to do woman oriented subjects.

4.Both have done films with the same woman directors.

5.Shabhana : Aparna Sen (Sati) and Kalpana Lajmi (Ek Pal)

Rakhee : Aparna Sen (Paroma) and Kalpana Lajmi (Rudaali)