Javed Akhtar recalls when he was mistaken for Gulzar at airport, reveals hilarious interaction

“Shabana and I were at the airport, when the airline staff asked us to sit and said they will get our luggage. Shabana was sitting right next to me when a gentleman approached me and said, ‘Adaab Gulzar saab!’ I responded with an adaab too. He then wondered, ‘How come Gulzar saab is at the airport?’ I told him that Javed Akhtar saab is coming, so I am there to receive him!

“He got confused that such a big man has come to receive Javed Akhtar?! He asked me, with disappointment in his voice, ‘You are here to receive Javed Akhtar?’, I replied, ‘I always come. Wherever Javed Akhtar is coming from, I always receive him at the airport’.  The disappointment in his face, that he is a fan of Gulzar, and Gulzar has come to receive Javed Akhtar! He said, with a confused, disappointed tone, ‘Achcha… Chalta hu Gulzar saab,'” Akhtar narrated the incident as Gulzar burst into laughter.

Javed Akhtar said it isn’t the two are “lookalikes that one might confused” but people with “average intelligence” use their brains like ‘kabad khaana’ (storeroom).

“Whatever they find, they put it in kabad khaana, they don’t associate with it. If they see a poet, they put their hands inside the storeroom and whatever name they get, they say it,” Akhtar added.

The book launch witnessed great camaraderie and warmth between the two icons, who have been pitted against each other throughout their career as song writers. Akhtar showered praise on Gulzar’s imaginative word play and said both of them remain ardent admirers and champion of each other’s works.

“There have been several lyricists in the past who have been thick friends, or like brothers. So it is not necessary that if two people work in the same field they have to be jealous of each other. I believe one is only jealous of someone’s talent when they lack self-confidence. Otherwise, if you spot good work, you will always appreciate it.

“I have always and still call up Gulzar saab when I listen to any of his songs and love a specific line, which I know must be written by him. That’s the equation we share,” he added.

Gulzar returned the affection with equal adulation as he said Javed Akhtar’s tall stature is beyond any amount of words. “One of the most striking qualities of Javed Akhtar is that he never gets angry. He can criticise in the strongest words, make his displeasure known, but even while calling out the system, he adds humour to his expression that you can never find anger in his words,” Gulzar added.

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