Javed Akhtar has been in the news for his firm riposte in Lahore exposing the complicity of Pakistan in terrorism sponsored against India. Javed has been a friend of long-standing. We were in the Rajya Sabha together, and since the House was adjourned more often than not, we spent a great deal of time over coffee in the Central Hall.
It hardly needs reiteration, that he is among the foremost poets in India, with a knowledge of Urdu and Urdu poets that is unparalleled. It was his poetry, and my biography of Mirza Ghalib, that first brought us together. As a lyricist and scriptwriter, he has achieved the kind of fame and recognition which, in his struggling days, he could hardly have imagined.
We have spent many evenings (he is a complete teetotaler for years now but serves drinks to his guests) discussing his life and the vicissitudes he went through as a struggling aspirant in Bollywood’s competitive world. These are also detailed in his autobiography. Javed is a fantastic raconteur, who can describe events of his life and the people he has known, with a panache that can leave you spellbound. Few people know that he is also an excellent mimic. I first learnt of this when we were together some years ago in the author’s lounge of the Diggi Fort Palace at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Javed had us rolling on the ground with laughter, mimicking the well-known and famous.
When Javed first arrived in Mumbai from Bhopal, he had no money, nor a roof over his head. His father, Jan Nisar Akhtar, was a well-known lyricist in the film industry, but had married again. Javed was deeply unforgiving of the manner in which he had abandoned his first wife and family. Those were very dark days, and I remember Javed telling me that he was on the verge of slipping into the abyss of becoming a penurious alcoholic, and even contemplated suicide.
But destiny had better plans. Teaming up with Salim Khan, he became the industry’s most sought-after scriptwriter, and there was a time when Salim and his fees were higher even than that of the hero. Javed married actress Honey Irani, and had two children, both now famous in their own right, actor Farhan Akhtar and film director, Zoya Akhtar. Somewhere along the journey, Javed and Honey drifted apart, and Shabana Azmi entered his life. Javed left his home and moved to a hotel, where he lived, I think, for several years, until his marriage with Shabana Azmi. He now lives in a beautiful apartment in Juhu overlooking the sea, and I have had the good fortune of visiting it often. Honey Irani and Javed still remain the best of friends, and Shabana gets on very well with Farhan and Zoya.
The life of Javed Akhtar is in the public realm, and I don’t wish to retell what is known. But there are personal anecdotes that many people might not know about. Javed and Gulzar are good friends. Once, Javed recounts, he was sitting at the airport waiting to take a flight, when an “admirer” approached him and said: ‘Gulzar Saheb aap kaise hain? Kahan ja rahe hain? (Gulzar Saheb, how are you? Where are you going?)” Without batting an eyelid, and with a deadpan face, Javed replied: “Kahin nahin. Javed ji ko lene aaya hoon. (Nowhere. I have just come to receive Javed ji)”.
I became particularly close to Javed and Shabana when she asked me to translate into English the poems of her father, the great Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi. I considered it both an honour and privilege, and readily agreed. This was sometime in early 2000. The translation, titled Selected Poems was published by Penguin and launched in February 2001 by former Prime Minister IK Gujral at a packed and glittering function at the ITC Maurya in New Delhi.
In his author’s note, Kaifi Saheb wrote: “When Shabana first gave me the news that Pavan Varma would be translating my poems and would have them published, I thought Shabana was saying this only to please me. But today, this book which is in my hands and yours, symbolizes the fulfilment of my dreams, and for this reason I dedicate this book to Shabana Azmi”. Shabana was also gracious enough to write on my copy of the book: “Pavan, what a painless journey it has been — only because you removed all the obstacles along the way. This book has brought joy to Abba and that’s why will always remain amongst my most precious possessions”. Javed just wrote one line: “Pavan Bhai, wah!”
A footnote: After the launch was over, Kaifi Azmi was nowhere to be seen. This caused alarm, until it was discovered that he had quietly slipped away in a taxi to buy tandoori chicken from his favourite restaurant in Darya Ganj.
Pavan K Varma is author, diplomat, and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha).
Just Like That is a weekly column where Varma shares nuggets from the world of history, culture, literature, and personal reminiscences with HT Premium readers
The views expressed are personal
