Honey Irani was ‘bitter, felt rejected’ when Javed Akhtar had an affair with Shabana Azmi, but she never banned their kids from seeing him

Shabana Azmi said that it was very generous of Honey Irani to not poison her children Zoya and Farhan Akhtar against her after she began a relationship with Javed Akhtar.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | July 3, 2024 01:16 PM IST

3 min read

Shabana Azmi says Javed Akhtar's ex wife, Honey Irani, was generous enough to give Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar to her (Photos: Instagram/shabanaazmi)

Shabana Azmi says Javed Akhtar's ex wife, Honey Irani, was generous enough to allow Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar to spend time with her. (Photos: Instagram/shabanaazmi)

Actor Shabana Azmi credited Honey Irani for having the maturity to move beyond the betrayal that she was subjected to by her former husband Javed Akhtar, and fostering a relationship that has now settled in a very healthy space. Honey and Javed were married with two kids when Shabana entered the picture. She admitted that Honey was ‘bitter’ when the affair began, but showed the maturity to never poison her kids against Javed and her.

Chatting with Arbaaz Khan on his chat show, The Invincibles Series, she said that Javed worked at rebuilding his relationship with Honey diligently, and they are now as close as they ever were. “I feel very happy, because I have a very beautiful relationship with Zoya and Farhan, and I really give the credit to Honey. They were really young kids at the time, and it would’ve been the easiest thing in the world for Honey to take them away. She never did that; she encouraged them to be with us.”

Also read – Shabana Azmi says she initially kept her distance from Javed Akhtar because he was rumoured to be arrogant: ‘I did not pay much attention to him’

Shabana said that at the beginning, she maintained her distance, and didn’t try to force a relationship. “I really doff my hat to Honey, because that generosity came from her. And today, even with Honey, we have a really, really good relationship. I know that Honey has the confidence to call Javed in the middle of the night if she needs something, and he would come.”

Shabana said that all three of them should be credited for the maturity they’ve shown, but Honey deserves special appreciation. “We decided that there should be no bitterness involved. Of course, in the beginning, she was very bitter, she felt rejected. But he kept at it, he kept at it, he kept at it. And today, what’s come from it is really something that I’m proud of.”

Javed and Honey married in 1972, and divorced in 1985. He married Shabana Azmi in 1984. In the same interview, she spoke about having to deal with Javed’s alcoholism, and the breakup of his massively successful creative partnership with Arbaaz’s father, Salim Khan. Chatting with Arbaaz on an earlier season of the show, Javed had said, “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).”

From the homepage