Azad is the niece of Safdar Hashmi, a great actor of stage drama. She has performed with Hashmi's Natyadal "Jan Natya Mancha" from a very young age. She has worked with actors like Habib Tanvir, MK Raina, GP Deshpande and NK Sharma. She has trained in Orissa, ballet, jazz, Latin as well as contemporary dance. Along with her Orissa dance teacher Kiran Segal, she has danced in India and abroad in England.