Javed Akhtar blames his drinking habit for failed first marriage with Honey Irani; claims it could have been saved: ‘You take impulsive decisions…’
Javed Akhtar addressed his struggle with alcoholism. He also admitted that his first marriage with Honey Irani also failed because of his drinking habits.
Legendary screenplay writer Javed Akhtar was previously married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two kids, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Recently, he opened up about his struggle with alcoholism in his younger days, which he also cited as the reason behind the failure of his first marriage. He admitted making mistakes in the past.
In a recent conversation with Sapan Verma on his YouTube channel, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar was asked if he ever did something wrong but changed him drastically as he grew older. In response to this, the Deewar writer was quick to admit that he "wasted a lot of time drinking." He called himself a "drunkard" and recalled giving up drinking on July 31, 1991.
The 79-year-old noted that he could have used 10 years of his life for many positive and constructive purposes that he misused in just drinking. He also advised young people to stop drinking. According to him, looking back at his life, he never made any major mistake in his life without the influence of alcohol.
“I regret the failure of my first marriage. It could have been saved. But it was my irresponsible attitude, my drinking... When you are drunk, you take impulsive decisions, you start fighting about certain things which are not such big issues. Ye sab galtiyaan toh hui hai mujhse (These are the mistakes that I have made),” he further added.
Notably, in the third episode of his documentary series, Angry Young Men, Akhtar also addressed the failure of his first marriage, expressing that Honey Irani is the one person in the world toward whom he feels guilty. He also admitted that had he been much more understanding then, a lot of things wouldn’t have gone wrong.
Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani got married in 1972 and had two kids, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. The veteran lyricist got married to Shabana Azmi on December 9, 1984, and got divorced from Honey Irani in 1985.
On the professional front, Javed was recently seen in a documentary series titled Angry Young Men. Helmed by Namrata Rao, it is based on the illustrious cinematic journey of his and co-writer Salim Khan.