Javed Akhtar attends Pakistan’s Faiz Festival, talks about marriage with Shabana: ‘Hamari dosti itni achi hai ki…’

Javed Akhtar was in Pakistan for the Faiz Festival, where he was asked about his marriage with Shabana Azmi. The lyricist and writer said at the literary festival that he and Shabana shared such a bond that even after almost four decades of marriage, the two remained friends. He added ‘love without friendship’ is no love at all. Also read: Javed Akhtar reflects on marriage with Shabana Azmi, says ‘living with an independent strong-minded woman is not a bed of roses’

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have been married since 1984. Javed was earlier married to screenwriter Honey Irani and shares two children with her – actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar. A video of Javed speaking at the recent Faiz Festival was being widely shared online, where he spoke about his marriage with Shabana.

When asked about his relationship with Shabana, and if they were more like friends than husband-wife, Javed said, “Wo mohabbat mohabbat hi nahi hai jisme dosti na ho. Aur wo dosti ya mohabbat sachi hi nahi hai jisme izzat na ho. Aur wo izzat jhooti hai jisme ikhtiyar na diya jaye. Main toh ek jagah likha hai ki bhai humari dosti intni achi hai ki shaadi bhi uska kuch nahi bigad saki (Love without friendship is no love at all. Friendship or love without respect is not true. And respect without rules is a lie. I have also written somewhere that Shabana and my friendship is so nice and strong that even marriage could not break it).”

Faiz Festival was hosted in Lahore from February 17 to 19. The festival saw literary, music, and art events, including discussions, lectures, theatre, qawwali and dance performances, and included personalities from the UK, Canada, USA, and India, as per a recent report by Daily Pakistan. Javed was one of the speakers at an event hosted during the festival.

Javed Akhtar has been a part of the film industry for more than five decades. He is best known for writing songs for films such as 1942: A Love Story, Silsila, Veer-Zaara, Jodhaa Akbar, and Main Hoon Na, among many others, as well for writing screenplays for films such as Sholay and Zanjeer as part of the former screenwriting duo Salim-Javed.