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

Also read – Javed Akhtar says he wasted ten years of his life drinking, regrets failure of first marriage to Honey Irani: ‘It could’ve been saved’

In an interview with Curly Tales, Shabana said that the situation was very difficult, and that they tried to break up thrice because of how complicated it had become, considering that children were involved. “Oh it was a very, very, very tough period. I don’t think anybody knows what all the three people involved suffer. They think, ‘that’s it, kar liya.’ It is very difficult, very painful, particularly when there are children involved in it. You go through a very, very difficult period,” she said.

In an appearance on Arbaaz Khan’s talk show, Shabana praised Honey for how she handled the difficult situation. She said, “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 Akhtar said that he quit drinking in 1991. (Photo: Express Archives)

Javed’s son, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, reflected on his parents’ split in the recent documentary series Angry Young Men. “There was a phase when I was angry with him, I felt betrayed by him. There were all those very normal emotions that I did go through as a child growing up,” he said. Javed himself admitted that he feels tremendous guilt for how he behaved with Honey. 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.”

Javed has been sober for several years, and has spoken in several interviews about how much time he wasted on alcohol in his youth. At Expresso, he attributed alcohol to the failure of his marriage with Honey.