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Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar have been married for 41 years. The couple tied the knot in 1984, but their relationship began on a contentious note as Javed had been married to Honey Irani and was also a father to two children — Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Despite the controversy surrounding the relationship, Shabana decided to marry him. However, she once admitted in an old interview with Twinkle Khanna that her parents — late renowned poet and writer Kaifi Azmi and late actress Shaukat Kaifi — were against the marriage and didn’t want her to marry Javed Akhtar.
Shabana revealed that since she was seen as the epitome of feminism in those days through her choice of roles, people branded her a hypocrite for marrying Javed. She said, “He was a married man, he had children, it was really tough. And that’s why I feel that people shouldn’t speculate. It’s difficult enough for the people involved and then just for gossip’s sake. And obviously, people are going to say, ‘You call yourself a feminist and then how have you got yourself in this situation?’ At that time, I did have a choice.”
Despite facing backlash, Shabana chose not to speak out and instead maintained a dignified silence. She explained, “I could explain my point of view, which would justify the action I had taken, but I felt if I did that, it would lead to more speculation, so I decided to go quiet. In time people will come to know, and that is exactly what happened.”
In an old interview with Simi Garewal, Shabana Azmi further shared that not just her parents but many others also cautioned her against marrying Javed Akhtar. When asked if she believed Javed would ever betray her, she responded, “I don’t think Javed will betray me. I have complete faith in him. It is a slow thing, it has been built over the years. We had a contentious relationship and people said that he will betray me. But we have gone through trials of fire but today, I feel he won’t betray me.”
Later, Shabana also credited Javed Akhtar’s ex-wife Honey Irani for allowing her to have a separate and warm relationship with Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. She said, “Now of this, the real good thing that happened, and I give Honey Irani a lot of credit for it, because through it all, she never poisoned the children’s minds against me. She would have been justified… But she never, never did that. In fact, she sent the children with us to London when they were really young, and that became a bonding, and it’s to her credit, and Javed’s credit, and my credit that we have such a healthy relationship with Zoya and Farhan.”
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