Happy birthday Javed Akhtar; His love affair with Shabana Azmi wrecked Honey Irani’s home

Mumbai: Today is the birthday of a man who has given us some incredible Hindi film songs and shayaris that either has lifted us from the worst of our moods or helped us drown in love, beauty and romance. He is not only a fine Urdu poet but also one of the best lyricists and screen writers. Yes! He is none other than Javed Akhtar.

Fans keep a close watch on the professional and personal life of their favourite celebrities. One thing which catches the maximum attention is their love affairs. Fans are eager to know about their stars’ affairs too. Today the great poet, lyricist and screen writer Javed Akhtar alias Jadu turns 75. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as five National Film Awards.

On his birthday let’s know about the Javed-Shabana love story that ruined Honey’s home:

Shabana Azmi fell in love with the already married Javed in the late 70s. At that time, news of their affair had started appearing on every gossip magazine’s front page. Javed was married to 10 years younger Honey Irani, a child artiste, who began acting when she was just two-and-a-half years old. Honey Irani worked in films like Santan, Talaq and Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan in the 1950s.

In the year 1970 Javed used to learn the art of writing from Shabana’s father Kaifi Azmi. Kaifi never thought that Javed would date his daughter. After learning about Javed’s affair with Shabana, his first wife Honey got disappointed as they already had two kids – son Farhan Akhtar and daughter Zoya Akhtar.

It wrecked his marriage. Honey and Javed separated in 1978, amidst fights and ugly scenes; though they took good care to keep their children Farhan and Zoya away from the bitterness.

On the other hand, Kaifi did not approve of their relationship as he didn’t want his daughter to be a home- breaker and also he did not want Shabana to marry a married man.

However, Shabana managed to get approval from her father assuring him that the conflicts between Javed and Honey are not because of her. Finally in 1984, after divorcing Honey Irani, Javed got married to Shabana. They don’t have kids but Shabana still considers Farhan and Zoya as her kids.