Shabana Azmi tried breaking up her affair thrice with married Javed Akhtar

Shabana Azmi is considered one of the most influential Indian actors in Bollywood. With her decades-long acting career, the veteran star has garnered a formidable image in the film industry. However, her relationship with playwright Javed Akhtar in 1984 was muddled with controversy and criticism.

When the two fell in love, Akhtar was still married to actor-screenwriter Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Later, Akhtar and Irani got divorced.

In a recent interview with Curly Tales, Azmi opened up about the struggles the two faced with tolerating the judgments and how the criticism impacted the entire family’s life. “Oh, it was a very tough period. I don’t think anybody knows what all three people involved really go through. They think, ‘that’s it, they just did it.’ But it is very difficult, very painful, particularly when there are children involved in it. You go through a very difficult period,” she shared.

The Ankur actor also revealed that the phase was so challenging that they tried to call off their relationship multiple times due to Akhtar’s children. “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 said, adding that her relationship with Akhtar’s children is now stronger than ever. “Today, what is good is that I am very good friends with all of them, Honey is like a family member of ours and we all have this beautiful relationship with the children. So, in the end, it worked out well, for which I am very grateful.”

Before concluding, Azmi then urged people to be kinder and less judgemental. “But whenever you know of a situation like that, all I would say is please don’t judge because it is a very painful period in your life. My relationship with Farhan and Zoya is very strong, in fact when they have a problem with the father, they turn to me!” she said.

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Article source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2409663/shabana-azmi-tried-breaking-up-her-affair-thrice-with-married-javed-akhtar