Javed Akhtar, the living legend of Bollywood has come a long way carving his niche tough in lyrics writing. He is a known man in the industry, who is popular far and wide. Today being his 70th birthday, it becomes interesting to explore some of the hidden facts about this man. Let’s go back to the memory lane of his past and his life to explore the top 10 hidden facts about Javed Akhtar as under:
1). Born as Jadu
His real name is Jadu, which is being taken from a poem jotted down by his own father. He later named Jadu as a Javed since it is very much closer to his original name.
2). Shares her Birthday with his first wife
His first wife is Honey Irani, whom he met on the sets of the popular movie Seeta Aur Geeta to whom he shares the same birthday- January the 17th.
3). Atheist in belief
He is a known atheist and even shaped his children Zoya and Farhan AKhtar to be atheists as well.
4). Kaifi Azmi’s assistant
He used to assist one of the known Urdu poet called Kaifi Azmi, while his second wife is the poet’s own daughter called Shabana Azmi to whom he got married once his marriage with Honey Irani concluded with a divorce.
5). Homeless man
When he reached Bombay in 1964, he had no homes in the city and lived without shelter and food in his struggling days. He worked hard to find work in Hindi Cinema and used to sleep under any tree or corridors till he got a shelter inside Kamal Amrohi Studio based in Jogeshwari.
6). Tryst with Salim Khan
Javed met Salim Khan during the sets of Sarhadi Lootera when the former worked as a clapper boy and the latter was an actor. Javed got the chance to be a dialogue writer for the movie as the director was not able to find one.
7). The Script Writers
Salim use to share the story, while Javed penned down the dialogues in Urdu, which was eventually written in Hindi by their assistant followed by writing one liner in English.
8).   The Hit Scriptwriter of 70’s
Earlier the credit of lyrics and script were not added over the poster of any movie, however, when he turned big in Bollywood, the duo (Salim and Javed) decided to give their names on the poster for the movies they have worked in.
9). The Javed – Salim Split
The duo have ruled the Bollywood with so many successful movies giving 20 hits out of 24, however, the two spilt purely for the ego issues.
10). 14 Filmfare Awards
In his career in Bollywood, Javed has won 14 different awards in Filmfare out of which seven was given under the category of best script, while the remaining for best lyrics. He has even won National awards for five times and received awards like Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection ‘Lava’, which is India’s second highest literary honour.
