Javed Akhtar says he’s ‘hardly married’ to Shabana Azmi, declares, ‘Shaadi-waadi bekaar kaam hai, we are friends first’

Also read – Javed Akhtar was drunk on his wedding day, wasn’t ready to commit to Shabana Azmi; agreed to marry in inebriated stupor: Annu Kapoor

Javed continued, “The words ‘wife’ and ‘husband’ have taken on so many different meanings. Just forget about it. Two people, irrespective of their gender, how can they live happily together. It needs mutual respect, it needs mutual consideration, it needs giving space to each other.” Javed said that it is important for people to understand that everybody, including their spouse, is an individual themselves.

“We have to understand that the other person is a human being, with their own ambitions and dreams. They have just as much of a right over their ambitions as I have over mine. That’s all. It isn’t rocket science. It’s actually quite simple. You can only live happily together if both of you are happy,” he said, and declared, “One thing is for certain, love without respect is a fraud. Let me tell you, an independent woman, with her own ambitions, her own business, her own opinion, is not a very convenient person. Obviously, a person who is living with you and is not your slave is bound to be inconvenient. But you have to understand that they aren’t a slave!”

Javed Akhtar has often spoken about the hurt that he caused his first wife when he became involved with Shabana. In the recent Prime Video documentary series Angry Young Men, which commemorated his and Salim Khan’s professional achievements, he said, “Honey is one person in the world, towards whom I feel guilty. And she is the only person. Sixty-seventy percent 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.”