Javed Akhtar bought 4,000 sq ft bungalow on Bandra Bandstand for Rs 5 lakh in 1970s, reveals Sahir Ludhianvi was paid in prime real estate by BR Chopra

Indian Express

13-05-2025

Javed Akhtar may be one of the most prolific writer-lyricists in the history of Indian cinema, but he's also among the most successful. So much so that he purchased an entire 4,000 square feet bungalow at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai with his savings. The veteran screenwriter-lyricist-poet revealed recently that he bought the bungalow for a mere Rs 5 lakh in the 1970s.
When asked if he was the first person in the history of Mumbai real estate to buy a bungalow with just words, Akhtar said, 'I don't know. I have no idea. I'll have to go to everyone's house to find out (laughs),' said Akhtar. But he claimed that his contemporary, Gulzar, who has a bungalow Boskyana at Pali Hill, Bandra, earned from not only poetry and screenwriting, but also direction. 'He had a successful star wife,' Akhtar pointed out, referring to Rakhee Gulzar, popular lead actor in the 1960s and '70s. Boskyana is named after Bosky, the nickname of Meghna Gulzar, filmmaker and the daughter of Gulzar and Rakhee.
In the interview with Mid-Day, Akhtar added, 'First of all, bungalows were not so much in vogue anyway in Mumbai. But if Sahir (Ludhianvi, legendary poet and lyricist) wanted, he'd have a bungalow. Ultimately, he made a building in Juhu, bang opposite Sun-N-Sand (hotel), Parchhaiyan, where he had two floors upstairs. The land was given to him by Mr. BR Chopra against the songs of a film. Land was so cheap at that time. And that building was made by Karim Bhai Nadiadwala as remuneration for another film. Maybe he chose not to do it, but he could've made a bungalow.'
Akhtar quoted the example of late actor Balraj Sahni, who made a bungalow in exchange of his acting fee. 'It's in a bad condition. I feel very sad looking at it,' he said. Sahni was depressed in the last few months of his life because of the untimely death of his daughter Shabnam. A year after her death, he died of a cardiac arrest inside his bungalow in 1973 at the age of 59.
Akhtar has three properties in Maharashtra now — a bungalow at Bandra Bandstand, a sea-facing bungalow in Juhu, and a farmhouse in Khandala. Back in the 1970s and early '80s, Akhtar was part of arguably the most formidable screenwriting duo in the history of Indian cinema — Salim-Javed, which also consisted of Salim Khan, the father of Salman Khan.
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They co-wrote scripts of iconic films like Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer (1973), Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (1975), and Yash Chopra's Deewaar (1975), which crystallised Amitabh Bachchan as the Angry Young Man. After they parted ways in the early 1980s, Akhtar began writing scripts on his own. He wrote films like Rahul Rawail's Betaab (1983) and Shekhar Kapur's Mr India (1987). Akhtar also became a lyricist with Chopra's Silsila (1980) and continues to write songs for films till today.