"Im an Underachiever," says Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar is regraded as one of the greatest screenwriters and lyricists in the history of Indian cinema. He came to Mumbai with a dream, struggled with hunger and uncertainty for 6 years, before his first real break - Zanjeer in1973. He went on to pen several landmark films with Salim like Deewaar and Sholay, which achieved cult status and led to the "angry young man" aka Amitabh Bachchan, who Akhtar says would have achieved success with or without Javed and Salim. Javed Akhtar was born in 1945 in Gwalior. His father was a songwriter in Hindi films and an Urdu poet. His paternal grandfather was a poet as was his grandfather's elder brother, while his great great grandfather, was a religious scholar of Islam. Born into a family of poetry, literature and progressive idealogy, Akhtar carried on the legacy and also is a self proclaimed atheist. He tells me that faith is delusional and even jokes about the illusion of believing I'm Elon Musk's sister. Well. Wouldn't that be something. Akhtar was married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar, a film actor, producer, director and Zoya Akhtar, a film writer, director and producer.The father-and-son duo have worked together in films such as Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Rock On!! and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara with Zoya. he says he's proud of them for not compromising on the quality of their work. Javed Akhtar married Shabana Azmi, the union of which he said should have been 'an arranged marriage' because of how well their families knew each other. He says he respects her tremendously. He gives full credit to his ex wife, Honey Irani for raising his children with integrity and the right values. Akhtar adds he was responsible for them also being atheists and their love for reading also he thinks comes from him. Akhtar has received the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu, India's second highest literary honour and in 2020 he was awarded the Richard Dawkins Award for being a "powerful force for secularism, reason, and human rights, challenging superstition and intolerance through his work in poetry, screenwriting, and political activism". He says he's extremely proud of these awards, while smiling about the "diminishing" value of the 14 Filmfare awards. Why is Javed Akhtar able to tap into a the mind of a 15 and 50 year old equally? It's simple, he says. Don't be just the age you're at. Remember and recall every age that you have traversed through. That's how you write great characters. Akhtar talks about perfecting your craft, reading, reading and reading and why he thinks of himself as an underachiever. He also talks about regrets and if a person doesn'e have them, they haven't really grown. And what does he think of himself? "I'm a dreamer." #javedakhtar #javedakhtarshayari #javedakhtarsongs #javedakhtarpoetry #angryyoungman #salimjaved #amitabhbachchan #don #deewar #sholay #urdupoetry #farhanakhtar #zoyaakhtar #shabanaazmi #actor #bollywood #activists #liberalism #respect #regret #stardom #filmfareaward #padmabhushanaward #atheist #faith #delusion #ambition #shankarmahadevan #arrahman #letstalk #podcast #interview #letstalkwithdevnag Insta‪@letstalkwithDevnaG‬