courtesy: lifestyle asia
Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani married each other in 1972. Their daughter Zoya Akhtar was born in the same year and son Farhan Akhtar was born in 1974. In 1978, Javed and Honey separated and got divorced in 1985. Javed married Shabana Azmi in 1984, while Honey took care of their two children.
Farhan saw his parents getting divorced and after becoming the parent of two children his own marriage fell apart. He was married to Adhuna Bhabhani in 2000. Their first daughter Shakya Akhtar was born in the same year and their second daughter Akira Akhtar was born in 2007. Farhan and Adhuna announced separation in 2016, and the divorce was finalised in 2017 with the latter getting the custody of their children. Farhan went on to marry Shibani Dandekar in 2022 and continues to co-parent his daughters with Adhuna.
In a recent chat with journalist Faye D’Souza, the filmmaker and actor shared how his childhood with divorced parents played a ‘huge role’ in deciding to end his first marriage with Adhuna. The director of Dil Chahta Hai said, “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. I felt that it came to a place that if Adhuna and myself spoke to them openly and honestly, and explain to them why we are taking this kind of step, that it doesn’t have anything to do with them. It’s not because of them, it’s not because of anything they did, they said, or because they are here.”
Meanwhile, on the work front, Farhan is working on his directorial comeback with Don 3. His last directed film was Don 2 in 2011. In the threequel, Ranveer Singh replaces Shah Rukh Khan, who had replaced Amitabh Bachchan in the 2006 film Don, the reboot to the 1978 classic Don. Don 3 is slated to release in 2025.
