Javed Akhtar met Farhan Akhtar’s first wife Adhuna two days before their wedding, says ‘it makes no difference’ daughter Zoya never tied the knot | Bollywood News

Lyric-screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who is the father of filmmaker Zoya Akhtar and actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, recently shared that as soon as his children turned 19 and 17 respectively, he sat them down and told them that if they ever plan to get married, it would be on them to find their partner. Javed said that Farhan took his advice so seriously that he didn’t even tell his father about his wedding until a month before, and Javed only met Adhuna, Farhan’s first wife, two days before the wedding.
In a chat at Alliance University, Javed said that he sat his kids down and when they had just finished 12th grade and told them that if they wished to study, he would sponsor their education. And if they wished to do anything else, he would help them in any way he can but, “As a parent I don’t think getting you married is my responsibility,” he said. Javed shared what he told his children as he recalled, “If you don’t know who you should marry, it means you should not get married because if you don’t have that much sense then you should not be married. You choose your spouse, you tell me you are getting married to this person on the 10th of next month, so on the 12th, please organise a reception in this hotel, I will do that. That is my responsibility. But choosing a person for you is not my responsibility.”
Javed said that anyone can make a make while choosing a partner and “if there has to be a make, you will make that make, not me.” Javed made sure that his children knew that they could choose anyone from any ethnicity, caste, creed, as long as it was their own choice. He shared that his son took his advice so seriously that he announced his wedding just a month before he was actually supposed to get married.
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“One day, he came and said, on the 10th, I am marrying a girl. I had not met that girl. So I said ‘are you sure?’ You are getting married when you are starting your first film? He said ‘yes, I have thought about it’. I said fine. I met her perhaps two days before the wedding. What difference does it make? It’s his life,” he said. Javed was referring to Farhan’s first marriage to Adhuna Bhabani in 2000. At that time, Farhan was starting his first directorial Dil Chahta Hai. Farhan and Adhuna were married for over 15 years and share two daughters.
Javed said that when his daughter Zoya decided not to get married, he was fully supportive of that decision as well. “My daughter decided not to get married. That too, doesn’t make any difference to me. She decided she won’t get married till somebody comes and she changes her mind, that’s what she told me. But at the moment, till today, she has not found somebody, it’s okay,” he said and added, “She is happy. She is doing good work she has good friends. She has a lovely life.”