MUMBAI: As a well-known screenwriter, lyricist, and poet in the Indian film industry, Javed Akhtar has achieved success. However, his private life and marriages with screenwriter and actor Honey Irani of India, as well as with actor Shabana Azmi, are very widely known.
Honey Irani, the first wife of Javed Akhtar, began her acting career at the age of four or five, appearing in movies like Pyar ki Pyas, Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan, and Bombay Ka Chor.
Javed Akhtar initially got to know her while Seeta Aur Geeta was being filmed. He worked as a scriptwriter, and Honey was contributing to the movie in a supportive role. After they quickly became friends, they met daily and had long conversations. However, Javed Akhtar's proposal to Honey was the most out of the ordinary. Honey offered to choose a card for Javed when he was losing a card game. "If it's a good one, I'll marry you," he responded.
Producers used to be waiting outside Honey Irani's house, even though she was only 17, hoping to break her out as the next great thing. However, Honey wished to wed Javed because she was deeply in love with him.
In the meantime, Javed Akhtar had not yet started his career. Salim Khan was the one who presented Honey Irani's mother with his marriage proposal. He told Honey's mother, "This boy wants to marry your girl but he has no home, plays cards, and drinks." After a little resistance, Honey's mother agreed.
After a difficult period, the couple was able to enhance their lifestyle and purchase a luxurious bungalow due to Javed's hard work. Over time, Javed became overwhelmed with ideas and huge projects. Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar were the couple's two children born in the meanwhile.
Honey set aside her job to focus on taking care of the family, but Javed had been secretly in love with Shabana Azmi, his coworker. After Honey heard about Javed and Shabana, the two began fighting frequently at home. However, the two made sure the children were unaware of all of this.
Eventually, Honey asked Javed to leave her in preference to Shabana. “I spoke to them and said, ‘Your father is not leaving me because of you guys. It’s just that we don’t get along’. I never spoke a word against Shabana or Javed. I didn’t want the children to develop feelings of hate or anger. They’d go over and meet them. Javed would come over. Touchwood! Their relationship never went wrong,” she once shared.
Renowned author Javed Akhtar previously revealed how his relationships with Shabana and his ex-wife Honey Irani did not change by marriage and divorce. “Meri zindagi mein do auratein hain jinse mere bahut hi ache relation hain. Ek ka shaadi kuch nahi bigad saki aur dusre ka divorce kuch nahi bigad saka (I have two women in my life with whom I have great relationships. Marriage could not ruin one, and divorce could not ruin the other one). I am very very friendly with Honey and obviously, Shabana is my best friend, ” he shared in conversation with Arbaaz Khan for his new show.
Shabana Azmi once said that it was difficult for her and writer Javed Akhtar to get together because it held heartbreaks, kids, breaking expectations, and weak people trying to make things better. Javed had two children, Farhan and Zoya with actor-screenwriter Honey Irani, who was his wife. Shabana and he later fell in love, and in 1984 they were married. Honey Irani and Javed Akhtar divorced a year later.
Shabana Azmi claimed that the phase was so difficult that she and Javed attempted several times to end their relationship due to the involvement of children. “Oh it was a very, very, very tough period. I don’t think anybody knows what all the three people involved suffer. They think, ‘that’s it, kar liya.’ It is very difficult, very painful, particularly when there are children involved in it. You go through a very, very difficult period,” shared Shabana Azmi in earlier interview.
Shabana considers herself lucky to be close to Farhan and Zoya these days, saying "Honey is like a family member." “We did try to break several times, in fact, three times we tried to break because of the children but it just didn’t happen. Today, what is good is that I am very good friends with all of them, Honey is like a family member of ours, and with the children, we have this beautiful relationship. So, in the end, it has worked out well, for which I am very grateful. But whenever you know of a situation like that, all I would say is please don’t judge because it is a very painful period in your life. My relationship with Farhan and Zoya is very strong, in fact when they have a problem with the father, they turn to me!” she added.
The closeness that Shabana Azmi has with Javed Akhtar's children, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar, is also caused by Javed's ex-wife, Honey Irani.
(Also read: SAD! When Shabana Azmi tried to end her life
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Credits – The Indian Express
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