Javed Akhtar is both a child at heart, with his unbound enthusiasm for life, and a guardian with words of wisdom at his fingertips. Definitely the most sought-after guest at a recent retreat at Taj Guras Kutir Resort & Spa, in Gangtok, which t2 too was a part of, the celebrated poet, screenwriter and lyricist had constant audience, all eager to soak in his golden tips on life and living. The uninhibited Akhtar sat down with us for lunch and shared his life’s mantras and more.
How are you so fearless?
I don’t think I am fearless. Honestly. There are so many things I have not said.
But there are so many things that you said that not many of us can articulate...
Really? Thank you very much, but I have never felt that I am a man without any fear and what a brave man I am.
What is the secret to your youthfulness?
I love to talk to people and meet people, particularly interesting people. Here we have very interesting people. None of them are dull or boring. They are curious and interested people with a certain IQ.
But there must be something about your mind that keeps you young...
You are only as interesting as you are interested in life. If you are not interested in life, you will not be an interesting person. I am interested in life. It attracts me. I just don’t want to die.
What is an average day in your life like?
You know there are no regular hours in my life. If there is a recording or I am preparing for a song, the day will be different. I am the chairman of IPRS (The Indian Performing Right Society) and I have to do a lot of work for that. It is a government-recognised society of all the composers and writers of the country. Toh unke bare kaam rehte hai and there are meetings. Then if I have script sessions, then it’s a different day. Agar kuch bhi nahin hai, then I’ll either read something or watch something on OTT. Sometimes I am so busy in a day that I have four-five meetings or my Sundays are busy and Mondays are free. There is no regular pakka programme. Then, I travel a lot. I keep going to different places. Recently I went to Punjab, Delhi and Moscow. Toh chalta rehta hai.
What is me-time for you?
It is either reading poetry or watching a good OTT (show). I was watching The New Look (Apple TV+). It’s very good. Sometimes if I like it, I can watch it overnight... eight or nine episodes... I can go at one go.
How old do you feel you are?
I am conscious that next year I’ll be 80. I know the reality. Magar yeh ab kya karein? Yeh toh hota hai, ho raha hai... (A gentleman at the table says: ‘I want to be there’ to which Akhtar says: ‘Actually, I want to be there (laughs). A lady asks, given a chance would he reverse his age? Akhtar promptly replies: ‘Hundred per cent. I just don’t want to die’.)
If you could reverse your age, would you change anything about how you have lived so far?
I don’t want to reverse my mind. Physically, I want to be more than what I am. That’s about all. I don’t want to change my past... not that everything was hunky-dory and a bed of roses. The way you should not be proud of your success and achievements, the same way, you should not be proud of your wounds.
People bring up Sholay and Deewaar (cult films, both of which he co-wrote with Salim Khan). The one who had written it is somebody else. In these 50 years I have become another person. Can I honestly claim that I have written it? Thik hai, he was a very close relative. Uske bade mein soch ke faida kya hai? Matlab kya hai? You can’t live in your past. It’s not possible. Abhi kya kar rahe ho woh batao. Jo nahin kiya woh important hai. Jo kar liya woh important nahin hai. Your work is also like your children. They have grown up and they have their own life. Your work also has its own life. Your poem which is very popular or your film which is popular, it’s not only because you had written it....
What are the changes you see in yourself?
The obvious change is I have become a teetotaller. I used to drink a lot. And that perhaps made me more responsible and conscious of my every moment and sensitive than what I was. But, I feel with time, I don’t have that kind of passion that I used to have.
Really?
I genuinely feel that. Utna hota nahin hain andar jo tha.
Your children, Farhan and Zoya, have been able to step out of your shadow and carved different identities for themselves. How have you brought them up?
They are what they are on their own. Dekhiye, whether Honey (Irani; ex-wife) or me, we have ever differentiated between a daughter and son. They were free and there were no impositions that you couldn’t do this or couldn’t go here. Kuch nahin. One thing good about them is that they read, which is rather unusual in this generation. They have seen lots of books at home and seen their parents reading. They haven’t been taught any kind of traditional values, religion, faith. Not at all. Une batain nahin kabhi. I remember Farhan was eight or nine and one day he came back from school and asked me: ‘Are we Muslim?’ (Laughs) Maine kahan dekho being Muslim or Hindu is like you being born in some city... it’s not important.
You have also collaborated with both....
My daughter has liked my idea. I have done a script and I am mortally scared that main yeh ise dunga toh yeh kya karegi because problem mujhe abhi se dikh raha hai. Logon ko shikayat hoti hai directors ke saath, teen page deke chale gaaye, pura hume (writers) karna hai. She is like, why have you done it in so much details? ‘Why couldn’t you sit with me with a basic storyline and we could develop together?’ Toh woh jhagra abhi bina sunaye or padhaye ho chuka hai! (Laughs) I was like, this is the way I work!
I have written dialogues for Zoya twice... Luck by Chance and then the dialogue of the dog in Dil Dhadakne Do. I have written songs for her, but this is the first time I am going to work with her as a full-fledged director and I am very conscious of how it’ll work.
You have worked with generations younger than you...
You can only work with generations younger than you if you have respect for them. I understand that there are certain things which you understand and you know. It is a fact that there are certain things in today’s world which you understand better than me or more than me. Then I’ll respect you for that and when you are talking, I’ll listen to it carefully. But there are certain things which I know you don’t and that you should realise. There should be this kind of mutual respect between the generations.
What does your heart desire at this stage of your life?
I genuinely want to do some very good writing. I have done three scripts and on the third script, I feel, bahut sahi kaam huya hai. I may retire in my 80s, earlier or later. In my last lap, I should again give some films which will be remembered like how my ’70s films are remembered.