Mumbai: It was on this day 50 years ago that Javed Akhtar had stepped foot in Mumbai from Gwalior to pursue his creative dreams. The now acclaimed lyricist and writer recently participated in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachch Bharat Abhiyan’ on Gandhi Jayanti on Thursday at the Mumbai Central station to sweep the platforms.
Speaking of the experience, Javed said: “It is always a pleasure to be part of any campaign for a better nation. And Narendra Modiji’s ‘Swachch Bharat Abhiyan’ was definitely a wonderful idea. I happily supported it.” Pointing out at a significant personal historical link of his past to the clean-India campaign, he said: “It was 50 years ago on October 4, 1964 that I left my hometown Gwalior to reach Mumbai by a train that took me to Mumbai Central. And now, just two days short of the day, I had arrived in Mumbai 50 years ago I was the same place as part of a clean-Indian campaign.”
Born to Jan Nisar Akhtar, an Urdu poet and a Bollywood lyricist and Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer, Javed’s tryst with the world of words was as though predestined.
The 69-year-old got his first break in Yakeen (1969), and since then, he has been credited with a slew of songs, scripts and poems, which have been highly appreciated.
As a scriptwriter, his erstwhile partnership with Salim Khan, gave the Hindi film industry, movies like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta and Trishul.
In his personal life, the creative expert had first married Honey Irani, a scriptwriter for Hindi films. With her, he has two kids - actor-filmmaker Farhan and Zoya, who is a filmmaker.
After ending his marriage with Honey, Javed married actress Shabana Azmi in 1984.IANS
