Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter (born 1945)
Javed Akhtar
|
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|
Akhtar in 2012
|
|
|
In office
22 March 2010 ? 21 March 2016
|
|
|
Born
| (
1945-01-17
)
17 January 1945
(age 79)
Gwalior
,
Gwalior State
,
British India
(present-day
Madhya Pradesh
,
India
)
|
---|
Spouses
| -
(
m.
1972;
div.
1985)
; 2 children
-
|
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Children
| |
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Parent
| |
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Education
| Colvin Taluqdars' College,
Lucknow
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Occupation
| |
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Signature
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|
Javed Akhtar
(born 17 January 1945) is an Indian
screenwriter
,
lyricist
and
poet
. Known for his work in
Hindi cinema
, he has won five
National Film Awards
,
[1]
and received the
Padma Shri
in 1999 and the
Padma Bhushan
in 2007,
[2]
two of India's highest
civilian honours
.
Akhtar came to recognition in the duo
Salim?Javed
, and earned his breakthrough as a screenwriter with 1973's
Zanjeer
. He went on to write the films
Deewaar
and
Sholay
, both released in 1975; they earned a
cult following
, and had a significant impact in
popular culture
. He later earned praise for his work as a
lyricist
, winning the
National Film Award for Best Lyrics
five times and the
Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist
eight times.
Akhtar notably campaigned for the
Communist Party of India
(CPI) and their candidate in the
2019 Indian general election
, and was a member of parliament in
Rajya Sabha
.
[3]
For his work, he received the
Richard Dawkins Award
in 2020.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Early life
[
edit
]
Javed Akhtar was born in 1945 in
Gwalior
.
[8]
His father
Jan Nisar Akhtar
was a
Bollywood
film songwriter and
Urdu
poet.
[9]
His paternal grandfather
Muztar Khairabadi
was a poet as was his grandfather's elder brother, Bismil Khairabadi, while his great great grandfather,
Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi
, was a religious scholar of Islam who declared the
Jihad in 1857
against the English for religious reasons.
[10]
Javed Akhtar's original name was Jadoo, taken from a line in a poem written by his father: "Lamha, lamha kisi jadoo ka fasana hoga". He was given the official name of Javed since it was the closest to the word
jadoo
.
[11]
He spent most of his childhood and was schooled in
Lucknow
. He graduated from Saifiya College in
Bhopal
.
[12]
Career as scriptwriter
[
edit
]
Initially, in the 1970s, there was generally no concept of having the same writer for the screenplay, story and dialogue, nor were the writers given any credits in the titles.
Rajesh Khanna
is credited with giving
Salim Khan
and Javed Akhtar their first chance to become screenplay writers by offering them work in
Haathi Mere Saathi
.
[13]
Javed Akhtar stated in an interview that one day, he went to
Salimsaab
and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow, Aashirwad. But the film was a remake and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. "He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit."
[14]
Their first big success was the script for
Andaz
, followed by
Adhikar
(1971),
Haathi Mere Saathi
and
Seeta Aur Geeta
(1972). They also had hits with
Yaadon Ki Baaraat
(1973),
Zanjeer
(1973),
Haath Ki Safai
(1974),
Deewaar
(1975),
Sholay
(1975),
Chacha Bhatija
(1977),
Don
(1978),
Trishul
(1978),
Dostana
(1980),
Kranti
(1981),
Zamana
(1985) and
Mr. India
(1987). They have worked together in 24 films including two
Kannada
films ?
Premada Kanike
and
Raja Nanna Raja
.
Of the 24 films they wrote, 20 were hits. The scripts they wrote, but which were not successful at box office include
Aakhri Dao
(1975),
Immaan Dharam
(1977),
Kaala Patthar
(1979) and
Shaan
(1980). Though they split in 1982, due to ego issues, some of the scripts they wrote were made into hit films later, such as
Zamana
and
Mr. India
. Salim-Javed, many a time described as "the most successful scriptwriters of all-time",
[15]
are also noted to be the first scriptwriters in
Indian cinema
to achieve star status.
[16]
Personal life
[
edit
]
“There are certain things that I’d like to make clear at the very outset. Don’t get carried away by my name ? Javed Akhtar. I am not revealing a secret, I am saying something that I have said many times, in writing or on TV, in public… I’m an atheist, I have no religious beliefs. And I don’t believe in spirituality of some kind".
[17]
Akhtar was nominated to the Parliament upper house
Rajya Sabha
on 16 November 2009.
[18]
Akhtar was married to
Honey Irani
, with whom he had two children,
Farhan Akhtar
, a film actor, producer, director
[19]
and
Zoya Akhtar
, a film writer, director and producer.
[20]
The father-and-son duo have worked together in films such as
Dil Chahta Hai
,
Lakshya
,
Rock On!!
and
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
with
Zoya
.
Farhan
was married to
Adhuna Akhtar
, a hair stylist.
[21]
Despite having an Islamic upbringing, Akhtar declared himself to be an "equal opportunity
atheist
" who is against all faiths,
[22]
[23]
and also brought up his children
Farhan
and
Zoya Akhtar
as atheists.
[24]
Akhtar married
Shabana Azmi
, the daughter of Urdu poet,
Kaifi Azmi
and later divorced
Irani
.
[25]
Akhtar's uncle, Asrar-ul-Haq "
Majaz
" was also an Urdu poet. His uncle,
Ansar Harvani
, was a member of the Indian independence movement and an elected Member of Parliament. Akhtar's aunt,
Hamida Salim
, was an Indian author, economist and educator as well.
[26]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Javed was awarded the civilian honour of
Padma Shri
by the Government of India in 1999, followed by the
Padma Bhushan
in 2007.
[2]
In 2013, he received the
Sahitya Akademi Award
in
Urdu
, India's second highest literary honour, for his poetry collection
Lava
.
[27]
In 2019, he was conferred with an
honorary doctorate
(
Doctor of Letters
) by the
Jamia Hamdard University
.
[28]
In 2020 he was awarded the
Richard Dawkins Award
for being a "powerful force for secularism, reason, and human rights, challenging superstition and intolerance through his work in poetry, screenwriting, and political activism".
[4]
[6]
Filmography
[
edit
]
As screenwriter
[
edit
]
As Salim-Javed
[
edit
]
Year
|
Film
|
Language
|
Director
|
Cast
|
Notes
|
1971
|
Andaz
|
Hindi
[35]
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Rajesh Khanna
,
Hema Malini
,
Shammi Kapoor
,
Simi Garewal
|
Written as "
Salim-Javed
"
|
Adhikar
|
Hindi
|
S.M. Sagar
|
Ashok Kumar
,
Nanda
,
Deb Mukherjee
|
Haathi Mere Saathi
|
M. A. Thirumugham
|
Rajesh Khanna
,
Tanuja
|
1972
|
Seeta Aur Geeta
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Hema Malini
,
Dharmendra
,
Sanjeev Kumar
|
1973
|
Yaadon Ki Baaraat
|
Nasir Hussain
|
Dharmendra
,
Vijay Arora
,
Tariq Khan
|
Zanjeer
|
Prakash Mehra
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Jaya Bhaduri
,
Pran
|
1974
|
Majboor
|
Ravi Tandon
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Parveen Babi
,
Pran
|
Haath Ki Safai
|
Prakash Mehra
|
Randhir Kapoor
,
Vinod Khanna
,
Hema Malini
,
Simi Garewal
,
Ranjeet
|
1975
|
Deewaar
|
Yash Chopra
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Parveen Babi
,
Neetu Singh
|
Sholay
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Dharmendra
,
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Sanjeev Kumar
,
Hema Malini
,
Jaya Bhaduri
|
Aakhri Dao
|
A. Salaam
|
Jeetendra
,
Saira Banu
,
Danny Denzongpa
|
1976
|
Premada Kanike
|
Kannada
|
V. Somashekhar
|
Rajkumar
,
Aarathi
|
Raja Nanna Raja
|
A. V. Seshagiri Rao
|
1977
|
Immaan Dharam
|
Hindi
|
Desh Mukherjee
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Sanjeev Kumar
,
Rekha
|
Chacha Bhatija
|
Manmohan Desai
|
Dharmendra
,
Randhir Kapoor
,
Hema Malini
|
1978
|
Trishul
|
Yash Chopra
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Sanjeev Kumar
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Hema Malini
|
Don
|
Chandra Barot
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Zeenat Aman
,
Pran
|
1979
|
Kaala Patthar
|
Yash Chopra
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Rakhee Gulzar
,
Shatrughan Sinha
,
Parveen Babi
,
Neetu Singh
|
1980
|
Dostana
|
Raj Khosla
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Shatrughan Sinha
,
Zeenat Aman
,
Pran (actor)
,
Amrish Puri
|
Shaan
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Sunil Dutt
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Rakhee Gulzar
,
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
|
1981
|
Kranti
|
Manoj Kumar
|
Manoj Kumar
,
Dilip Kumar
,
Hema Malini
,
Shashi Kapoor
,
Shatrughan Sinha
,
Parveen Babi
|
1982
|
Shakti
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Dilip Kumar
,
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Raakhee
,
Anil Kapoor
|
1985
|
Zamana
|
Ramesh Talwar
|
Rajesh Khanna
,
Rishi Kapoor
,
Poonam Dhillon
,
Ranjeeta Kaur
|
1987
|
Mr. India
|
Shekhar Kapur
|
Anil Kapoor
,
Sridevi
,
Amrish Puri
|
As Javed Akhtar
[
edit
]
Year
|
Film
|
Language
|
Director
|
Cast
|
Notes
|
1983
|
Betaab
|
Hindi
|
Rahul Rawail
|
Sunny Deol
,
Amrita Singh
|
Written as "Javed Akhtar"
|
1984
|
Duniya
|
Ramesh Talwar
|
Dilip Kumar
,
Rishi Kapoor
,
Amrita Singh
|
Mashaal
|
Hindi
|
Yash Chopra
|
Dilip Kumar
,
Anil Kapoor
,
Waheeda Rehman
|
1985
|
Saagar
|
Ramesh Sippy
|
Rishi Kapoor
,
Kamal Haasan
,
Dimple Kapadia
|
Arjun
|
Rahul Rawail
|
Sunny Deol
,
Dimple Kapadia
|
Meri Jung
|
Subhash Ghai
|
Anil Kapoor
,
Meenakshi Sheshadri
|
1987
|
Dacait
|
Rahul Rawail
|
Sunny Deol
,
Raakhee
|
1989
|
Main Azaad Hoon
|
Tinnu Anand
|
Amitabh Bachchan
,
Shabana Azmi
|
1992
|
Khel
|
Rakesh Roshan
|
Anil Kapoor
,
Madhuri Dixit
|
1993
|
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja
|
Satish Kaushik
|
Anil Kapoor
,
Sridevi
|
1995
|
Prem
|
Hindi
|
Sanjay Kapoor
,
Tabu
|
1998
|
Kabhi Na Kabhi
|
Priyadarshan
|
Anil Kapoor
,
Jackie Shroff
|
2004
|
Lakshya
|
Farhan Akhtar
|
Hrithik Roshan
,
Preity Zinta
,
Amitabh Bachchan
|
2006
|
Don: The Chase Begins Again
|
Shah Rukh Khan
,
Priyanka Chopra
|
Work as lyricist
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Javed Akhtar Awards & Nominations List - Filmibeat"
.
FilmiBeat
. Retrieved
20 October
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Padma Awards"
(PDF)
. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 15 October 2015
. Retrieved
21 July
2015
.
- ^
President appoints 5 new members to Rajya Sabha
- ^
a
b
Javed Akhtar Wins Richard Dawkins Award
, retrieved
9 August
2021
.
- ^
"Javed Akhtar Becomes Only Indian to Win Richard Dawkins Award"
. 7 June 2020.
- ^
a
b
"Writer, Poet, Lyricist, and Atheist Activist Javed Akhtar Wins Richard Dawkins Award | Center for Inquiry"
. 9 June 2020.
- ^
Fidalgo, Paul (2020). "Richard Dawkins award goes to writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar".
Skeptical Inquirer
.
45
(5): 6.
- ^
Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, ed. (10 July 2014).
Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema
. Routledge. p. 204.
ISBN
978-1-135-94318-9
.
- ^
"On Father's Day, Javed Akhtar recalls the man who taught him poetry"
.
The Hindu
. 16 June 2014.
- ^
"Happy Birthday Javed Akhtar: 10 best quotes from the legendary lyricist and writer"
.
Hindustan Times
. 16 January 2020
. Retrieved
23 July
2021
.
- ^
Chopra, Anupama (2000).
Sholay: The Making of a Classic
. Penguin Books India. p. 16.
ISBN
0-14-02997-0X
.
- ^
David John Matthews, ed. (2001).
Quiver: Poems and Ghazals
. HarperCollins.
ISBN
978-81-7223-437-9
.
- ^
"More facts about Rajesh Khanna"
.
The Times of India
. Archived from
the original
on 2 December 2013.
- ^
Hungama, Bollywood.
"The Magic of Haathi Mere Saathi - Latest Movie Features - Bollywood Hungama"
.
Bollywood Hungama
. Archived from
the original
on 20 July 2012.
- ^
Sholay, through the eyes of Salim Khan,
[1]
, Rediff.com
- ^
Ramesh Dawar (2003),
Encyclopaedia of Hindi cinema
, Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt. Ltd.
- ^
"Atheism is the religion for these filmi folk"
.
Times of India
. 2021. Archived from
the original
on 30 June 2022.
- ^
"Javed Akhtar, Dua nominated to Rajya Sabha ? India ? DNA"
. Dnaindia.com. 17 November 2009
. Retrieved
3 March
2013
.
- ^
"Farhan Akhtar"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
29 August
2020
.
- ^
"Zoya Akhtar"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
29 August
2020
.
- ^
"Transcript of the Javed Akhtar Chat"
.
rediff.com
. Retrieved
3 March
2013
.
- ^
"Eye on England"
. Telegraphindia.com. 15 July 2012. Archived from
the original
on 19 July 2012.
- ^
"Javed Akhtar calls himself 'equal opportunity atheist who is against all faiths' after offending both sides"
.
Hindustan Times
. 13 June 2020
. Retrieved
4 October
2021
.
- ^
"10 Self-Proclaimed Celebrity Atheists | Entertainment | iDiva.com | Page 4"
. iDiva.com. Archived from
the original
on 29 October 2013
. Retrieved
16 December
2013
.
- ^
"Honey Irani on Divorce, Survival & Shabana Azmi"
. iDiva.com. 14 June 2012
. Retrieved
3 March
2013
.
- ^
"Urdu author Hamida Salim passes away"
.
The Hindu
. 17 August 2015.
ISSN
0971-751X
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
.
- ^
"Poets dominate Sahitya Akademi Awards 2013"
Archived
19 December 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Sahitya Akademi
. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^
"Javed Akhtar Conferred With Honorary Doctorate by Jamia Hamdard University"
.
News18 India
. 4 March 2019
. Retrieved
30 April
2019
.
- ^
"KANK, Omkara lead GIFA list with 12 nominations each"
.
Oneindia
. 27 October 2006.
- ^
"Nominations - Mirchi Music Award Hindi 2011"
. 30 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013
. Retrieved
24 May
2018
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
"Winners - Mirchi Music Awards 2011"
.
- ^
"Winners - Mirchi Music Award Hindi 2012"
.
www.radiomirchi.com
. Retrieved
27 April
2018
.
- ^
"Winners - Mirchi Music Awards 2014"
.
MMAMirchiMusicAwards
. Retrieved
15 April
2018
.
- ^
"MMA Mirchi Music Awards"
.
MMAMirchiMusicAwards
. Retrieved
25 March
2018
.
- ^
A??tar, J?v?d
; Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2002).
Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar
.
Oxford University Press
. p. 49.
ISBN
9780195664621
.
JA: I write dialogue in Urdu, but the action and descriptions are in English. Then an assistant transcribes the Urdu dialogue into Devnagari because most people read Hindi. But I write in Urdu.
- ^
Akhtar, Javed (8 January 2015).
"Nine poems by the 'other' Javed Akhtar"
.
Scroll.in
. Retrieved
3 December
2020
.
- ^
IANS (19 December 2013).
"Javed Akhtar among Sahitya Akademi Award winners for 2013"
.
Business Standard India
. Retrieved
3 December
2020
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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