Farhan Akhtar was in the news this week as his divorce with Adhuna Babhani was finalised. With this, a 16-year old marriage ended. However, the estranged couple is still cordial with each other and have two kids.
Way back, Farhan’s father Javed Akhtar was married to his first wife and Farhan’s mother Honey Irani. Ultimately their relationship also ended in a divorce and later on, Javed went on to marry acclaimed actress Shabana Azmi.
After his first movie as a director, Dil Chahta Hai became a cult hit, Farhan in an interview with a leading online portal, spoke about his parent’s break-up.
On whether their break-up affected him, Farhan revealed, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t affected, though Zoya (Akhtar) and I were very young then. A break-up between couples is traumatic for everyone. But what Zoya and I learnt over the years from talking to our parents, is that sometimes that it is better to let go in the long run.”
He added, “Dad and Mom parted as friends and after the initial hurt, their relationship has actually rejuvenated. Though we live with Mom, Dad is always there for us, loves us to bits and we do not miss anything by way of parenting. As for Shabana (Azmi), we are very close to her too.”
In another interview, when Javed was asked if his separation with Honey Irani made a difference in his equation with his kids Farhan and Zoya, Javed replied, “It would be naive on my part to believe that it must not have made a difference. But on the positive side, my children have always seen mutual respect between Honey and me. We had extremely civilised relations which kept growing better and friendlier with time. Today, Honey and I are the best of friends.”
On if he was a good father, Javed said, “I wasn’t a “father” in the conventional sense of the word. Traditionally, fathers and sons have never had a communicative relationship. But Farhan, Zoya and I have had a very democratic relationship. There’s nothing in the world they can’t discuss with me. My kids can be very argumentative. (Laughs) Democracy has its own problems.”
