In a recent interview, Javed Akhtar opened up about how his alcohol addiction affected his first marriage with Honey Irani.
Javed Akhtar is one of the most renowned personalities in the Indian music industry. In his personal life, he was married twice. Earlier, he was married to Honey Irani, with whom he has two kids, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. They were married for 11 years before parting ways in 1985. In 1984, Javed tied the knot for the second time with veteran actress, Shabana Azmi. In a recent interview, Javed Akhtar opened up about his marriage to his first wife, Honey Irani.
In a recent interview with Mojo Story, Javed Akhtar opened up about his first wife, Honey Irani, and shared some lesser-known anecdotes about their relationship. He also extended his support for a Uniform Civil Code in India and shared how he follows similar principles in his own life. He said:
“I am living in uniform civil code. I was married to a lady, and after 11 years of marriage, we got divorced. According to Muslim personal law, I was only responsible to give her alimony for four months but I didn’t think that. She was my responsibility."
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Speaking along the same lines, Javed Akhtar mentioned that he is always available for Honey's help, whether or not she asks for it. He further recalled that he walked out of the house with some books and some clothes after they parted ways. The lyricist also revealed that the understanding between him and Honey makes them the best of friends and added:
"It is also her choice whether she wants my support or not, but whenever she wanted and whenever she will, or she may not as she is very self respecting person, but I’m available for help. I walked out of the house with some books and some clothes. That’s all. And now we are best of friends because of this relationship and this understanding.”
Javed Akhtar also shared how alcohol affected his first marriage and revealed that he started drinking at the age of 20-21 and stopped when he was 42. He recalled that he used to drink almost a bottle every night and became a big drunkard. Adding that he had wrong values, Javed said:
“I started drinking at the age of 20-21 and left when I was 42 years old. I could afford a bottle and used to drink almost a bottle every night. It’s very common for Urdu poetics to become big drunkards because they believe that if they are poets and artistes, they should be carefree and you should drink. I think I had those wrong values.”
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Javed also explained that he learnt good manners while growing up in Lucknow, which discouraged him from using foul language. But when he drank, he became a very nasty man, which caused problems for many people. However, he added that the story would have been different if he had been a sober and responsible person. In his words:
“On the other side, all the tehzeeb that I learned in Lucknow didn’t allow me to use foul language, so all the bitterness was compressed inside me. But when I used to drink, all those barriers will break and I would become a very nasty man and would use foul language. I used to become another person. It was unhealthy, irrational and causing problem to many people. It impacted my marriage with Honey. If I was a sober and responsible person, the story would have been different.”
What are your views on Javed Akhtar's revelations?
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