Honey Irani recalls falling in love with Javed Akhtar on the sets of Seeta Aur Geeta, says she later felt the marriage wasn't working: ‘It was never because of Shabana…'
Though they are no longer married, screenwriter Honey Irani and lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar now share a close and enduring friendship. In several interviews over the years, Akhtar has spoken candidly about the deep bond they continue to share, saying he feels comfortable confiding everything in her. Likewise, Irani has expressed admiration and affection for her former husband. However, not many know that the two first fell in love in the 1970s while working together on the sets of the film Seeta Aur Geeta. In a recent conversation with Filmfare, Irani opened up about the early days of their relationship.
'Yes, it is true that during Seeta and Geeta, I fell in love with Javed Sir. Once, he asked me to pick a card during a game, and he won. He joked, 'You are so lucky for me, I think I should marry you.' We were dating for seven to eight months,' she revealed.
Honey Irani also spoke about the couple's separation in the 1980s and reflected on how she handled the difficult time with maturity. 'I did feel angry and all during my separation with Javed Akhtar, but I've never been dramatic. I did feel this was not working, and I have always said, it was never because of Shabana. I don't know what to call it. Maybe he was looking for something totally different from me, which I had. There is a lot of love and respect to date between us. I know he will never say anything or do anything that will harm my children; that is one thing I am confident about. So, I guess that made it easy.'
Also Read | Honey Irani was 'bitter, felt rejected' when Javed Akhtar had an affair with Shabana Azmi, but she never banned their kids from seeing him
Their son, actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, has also spoken publicly about how his parents' separation affected him as a child. 'It was difficult. A certain aspect of it was, of course, that I had been through having divorced parents when I was a kid. I know what it felt like and there was a huge part of me that was like—I cannot do this to my own kids,' Farhan admitted.
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