Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar is a popular and critically well-acclaimed poet, lyricist and scriptwriter. He has been and continues to be a prominent figure in Bollywood and one of the most popular lyricists. He has been a recepient of the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. Akhtar h...

Javed Akhtar is a popular and critically well-acclaimed poet, lyricist and scriptwriter. He has been and continues to be a prominent figure in Bollywood and one of the most popular lyricists. He has been a recepient of the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. Akhtar has also bagged 14 Filmfare Awards for Best Script, and Best Lyrics. Akhtar has also won the National Award five times. 


Javed Akhtar was born as Jadoo Akhtar to Jan Nisar Akhtar, a Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet, and singer Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer. He belongs to a family who has been writing for seven generations. The famous Urdu poet Majaz was his maternal uncle and the works of his grandfather, Muztar Khairabadi, are looked upon as a landmark in Urdu poetry. Akhtar has one sibling; Salman Akhtar who is a US-based psychoanalyst. Javed married Honey Irani and later divorced her to marry actress and social activist Shabana Azmi. Filmmakers Farhan and Zoya Akhtar are his children.


After Javed’s birth, his parents soon moved to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Javed Akhtar lost his mother prematurely and his father frequently shuttled between Lucknow and Bombay, so he and his brother spent time with relatives.


He has compiled two books in English – Quiver: The poems contain Javed Akhtar’s childhood memories, and the loss of its innocence with the passage of time. A few in this collection are also about love, its complications, pains and joys. His other book, Talking Songs: Javed Akhtar In Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir, centers around a dialogue on Hindi/Urdu film song between Javed Akhtar and a documentary film-maker and author, and includes a selection of 60 of his most memorable songs.