Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar recently opened up about the complicated times when his father Javed Akhtar married actor Shabana Azmi. He admitted he felt angry and betrayed by Javed. 

Farhan made the confession in an episode of Prime Video docuseries Angry Young Men, which celebrates the journey of the legendary screenwriters of 1970s Hindi cinema – Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.

What did Farhan say

In the final episode of the show, Javed talked about feeling guilty towards his first wife Honey, saying, “Honey is one person in the world, towards whom I feel guilty. And she is the only person. 67 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”.

At that point, Farhan looked at the turmoil he experienced when his father got married to Shabana, and felt betrayed.

“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 in a segment.

Farhan added, "It took time to go back to normal with my dad. Shabana played a big part in creating that normalcy."

Shabana’s view

In the same series, Shabana also reflected back on her decisions. She said a triangular relationship is very personal and very painful, especially when children are involved.

She feels it becomes more hurtful because people are so quick to pass judgement and say ‘she’s a home-breaker’, and ‘she’s a home-destroyer’. “I wanted to explain my point of view but then I figured if I did that, I would end up hurting far too many people. So wisdom lay in keeping quiet and not explaining myself and getting the brickbats which obviously I would get. And I give huge credit to Honey because she could have easily filled the children with tales against me. She just didn’t do that. She gave them the security that you do not have to consider her an evil stepmother. She and I have a very warm and really nice relationship,” she shared.

About Javed’s marriage

Javed Akhtar was married to former child artiste and writer Honey Irani, with whom he has two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Their relationship fell apart around 1980. Javed and screenwriter Honey got married in 1972 and divorced in 1985. Javed fell in love with Shabana Azmi and they got married in 1984.

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