Shabana Azmi on her parents opposing relationship with ‘married man’ Javed Akhtar; credits first wife Honey Irani

Shabana Azmi has spoken about the difficulties she had to endure after her decision to marry Javed Akhtar, who was then married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children – Zoya and Farhan Akhtar. 

In a chat with writer Twinkle Khanna, shared on the Tweak India YouTube channel on Thursday, Shabana Azmi admitted that her parents were not in favour of the relationship.

When Twinkle asked her if it was ‘difficult at that time’, Shabana said, “He was a married man, he had children, it was really tough. And that’s why I feel that people shouldn’t speculate. It’s difficult enough for the people involved and then just for gossip’s sake. And obviously, people are going to say, ‘You call yourself a feminist and then how have you got yourself in this situation?’”

She continued, “At that time, I had a choice. I could explain my point of view, which would justify the action I had taken, but I felt if I did that, it would lead to more speculation, and more gossip, so I decided to go quiet. In time people will come to know, and that is exactly what happened. Now of this, the real good thing that happened, and I give Honey a lot of credit for it, because through it all, she never poisoned the children’s minds against me. She could have been really generous, and she would have been justified… But she never, never did that. In fact, she sent the children with us to London when they were really young, and that became a bonding, and it’s to her credit, and Javed’s credit, and my credit that we have such a healthy relationship with Zoya and Farhan.”

Also read: When Shabana Azmi said Javed Akhtar doesn’t ‘have a single romantic bone’, revealed secret of their marriage

Shabana and Javed married in 1984. She said in the interview that she was attracted to him mainly because of their friendship and their common worldview.