- Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani married in 1972 and divorced in 1985. Akhtar has since been married to actor Shabana Azmi
By: India Weekly
AMAZON Prime Video docuseries “Angry Young Men” that traces the journey of the legendary screenwriters of 1970s Hindi cinema – Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, also throws light on the lives of the other members of the two families.
Javed Akhtar’s son Farhan Akhtar says he was very upset when his parents separated and felt ‘betrayed’ when his father married Shabana Azmi.
In the series, Farhan said, “There was a phase when I was angry with him, I felt betrayed by him. There were all those very normal emotions that I did go through as a child growing up.”
“It took time to go back to normal with my dad. Shabana played a big part in creating that normalcy,” he said.
Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani married in 1972 and divorced in 1985. Akhtar has since been married to actor Shabana Azmi.
Reflecting on his marriage with ex-wife, Akhtar said he was more responsible for the souring of their relationship.
“Honey is one person in the world, towards whom I feel guilty. And she is the only person. Sixty-seventy per cent responsibility lies on my shoulders, for the failure of that marriage. If I had as much understanding as I have today, perhaps things would not have gone wrong. It is very difficult to accept, but that’s how it is,” Akhtar said.
Addressing the marriage Honey Irani said, “I guess what had to happen happened. But we are still very good friends. I think we are the best friends now. I know he is there for me whenever I need him, and he knows that I am there in whatever he does. No matter how many accidents he has.”
“Angry Young Men” has been produced by Salman Khan Films, Excel Media and Entertainment and Tiger Baby, along with Salman Khan along with Salma Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti and it has been directed by Namrata Rao.
Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar had collaborated on 22 Bollywood films, which also included “Yaadon Ki Baaraat”, “Trishul”, “Kaala Patthar”, “Dostana”, “Seeta Aur Geeta” and “Mr India”, as well as two Kannada films before deciding to split in 1982.
The docuseries is a behind-the-scenes exploration of the phenomenon of Salim-Javed, as they came to be known in the 70s and 80s, and how their name alone on a script was considered a guarantee of success.
They were responsible for the creation of the ‘Angry Young Man’ persona in the 70s, which became a cinematic representation of the era through films like “Zanjeer”, “Sholay” and “Deewar”, and also gave birth to Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom.
Javed Akhtar’s daughter Zoya, who already knew the story on a personal level, said she was keen to document their collaborative period as she felt it was important to share it with future writers.
“They’ve been very impactful artistes and people in terms of their spirit and that needed to be shared with other people because they are both incredibly inspiring. We are at a stage right now, where writers need to see them and meet them. This generation of writers needs to meet people that have that kind of zest, conviction and spirit. They are too special and they need to be archived,” she added.
Namrata Rao, who directed the docuseries, said, “I relate to their (Salim-Javed) story because they came from nowhere and made the industry their own. They made such amazing films. That is something I relate to and aspire to do. I connected with their story instantly. It was a great discovery to understand how they started, what they did, and how they owned that space.”
