Shabana Azmi on facing judgments when she fell in love with Javed Akhtar, who was married with kids: ‘It was painful, we tried to break up thrice’

Javed Akhtar was married to actor-screenwriter Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Shabana said the period was painful and only the trio knew what they went through.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | April 2, 2023 08:57 PM IST

3 min read

Writer Javed Akhtar and actor Shabana Azmi along with his children, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya and former wife Honey Irani. (Photo: Shabana Azmi/Instagram)

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Veteran actor Shabana Azmi says the coming together of her and writer Javed Akhtar was not an easy task, as it involved heartaches, children, going against the tide and just vulnerable people attempting to make things better.

Javed was married to actor-screenwriter Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. He then fell in love with Shabana, and the duo got married in 1984. A year later, Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani got divorced.

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In an interview with Curly Tales, Shabana opened up about the phase in the trio’s life. When asked how she navigated through the judgements, Shabana said, “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.”

The veteran actor revealed that the phase was so challenging that Javed and her tried to call off their relationship multiple times, because children were involved. Today, Shabana feels blessed that she is close to both Zoya and Farhan and “Honey is like a family member.”

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“We did try to break several times, in fact three times we tried to break because of the children but it just didn’t happen. Today, what is good is that I am very good friends with all of them, Honey is like a family member of ours and with the children we have this beautiful relationship. So, in the end, it has worked out well, for which I am very grateful.

“But whenever you know of a situation like that, all I would say is please don’t judge because it is a very painful period in your life. My relationship with Farhan and Zoya is very strong, in fact when they have a problem with the father, they turn to me!” she added.

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