Shabana Azmi on her marriage with Javed Akhtar: ‘He says it has lasted because we don’t meet often, we both are…’

Veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar and actress Shabana Azmi have been married for over four decades. In a recent interview with ETimes, the actress spoke about why their marriage has lasted for so long. She said, “He (Javed Akhtar) says the success of our marriage is that we don’t meet too often, we are both busy running in different directions.”

Azmi added, “ We come from similar backgrounds – our fathers were poets from UP and communists, we have a common view on things – so people say considering these factors we should have had an arranged marriage."

However, their journey together hasn’t been entirely without challenges as Javed was previously married to fellow actor Honey Irani when he and Shabana fell in love. He also had two children, Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, from his previous marriage. During a recent conversation with Curly Tales, Shabana Azmi shared about their challenging experience and expressed that it was incredibly tough. The veteran actress further elaborated that the situation was not only hard for her, but also for the other two individuals involved.

According to  Shabana  , people tend to simplify the situation and assume that everything is resolved once a decision is made. She added that however, it’s not that simple, especially when children are involved. She emphasised that the process is emotionally draining and extremely painful, and one goes through a very difficult period.

In addition, Shabana revealed that due to the constant criticism and disapproval from society, she and  Javed Akhtar  attempted to end their relationship on several occasions. She said, “We did try to break several times, in fact three times we tried to break because of the children but it just didn’t happen.” She added that she is good friends with the kids, and Honey is like their family member. She stated that the relationship has worked out well in the end.