Shabana Azmi reveals she and Javed Akhtar tried ending their relationship: ‘We didn’t speak for 3 months’

Shabana Azmi described ‘friendship’ as the foundation of her relationship with her husband, writer Javed Akhtar. In a recent conversation, the Fire actor discussed various aspects of their bond, revealing the most enduring quality of the renowned writer. She also shared the story of how they fell in love and recounted how her mother had warned her against marrying ‘poet-types.’

Speaking to Radio Nasha, she said, “My mother told me not to get caught by shayars and poets. Woh acche acche alfaz kahege aur usmein hi phasaege (They will catch you by saying romantic things) and I actually got caught in that. I don’t know who among us confessed their love first but we just loved talking to each other and we didn’t understand anything else. We once decided to end our relationship as circumstances were tough, we didn’t talk for three months. We ended up meeting once after that thinking that we will meet for one last time, we talked about all the other things during that meeting and by the end, skipped the idea of ending our relationship.”

Talking about the quality of Javed Akhtar that she admires the most, Shabana said, “I think he is a very fair person. I love that he talks with a lot of humility with people you are younger to him. I really like his value system and of course his wit, humour, intellect.”

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She added, “The difference between us is that I think in detail and small and he thinks of everything grand. Like we were making our house and I thought he would build a weekend cottage but then I saw that he getting a big mansion build. We fought over it. His best friend told me, ‘Javed ji has slept on road, he has gone on without eating for three days, this house is his dream. You have lived a comfortable life so let him fullfil his dream. In a way, you are Ankur and he is Sholay.'”

Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar have been married for 40 years and celebrated their 40th anniversary on December 9.