Veteran screenwriter, lyricist, and poet Javed Akhtar is about to turn 75 on January 17 and preparations to make his day every bit special are in full swing. An exhibition titled The World of Javed Akhtar is waiting to be inaugurated on Wednesday by his children Farhan and Zoya.
Even more, Shabana Azmi, who had been shooting for Steven Spielberg's upcoming web series in Budapest has returned to India to accompany her husband on his big day.
The World of Javed Akhtar
As his milestone birth anniversary is nearing, the lyricist expressed his nervousness on the exhibition saying, "I am nervous, especially about the exhibition because they are calling it The World of Javed Akhtar. I want to see how many people are interested in my life."
The seemingly exquisite exhibition has been curated by Pradeep Chandra and SMM Ahuja as they have selected and included some barely seen pictures of Javed, some even from his childhood. The legendary artist displayed a mix of emotions as he was surprised to see how the creators have managed to arrange his photographs.
"Some of the photographs go back to my school days. I am wondering where they sourced them from," expressed Javed while talking to Mid-day.
Farhan and Zoya to inaugurate the exhibition
While Farhan and Zoya are scheduled to cut the ribbon tomorrow, the exhibition will become open to the masses from January 17-20. With his exemplary writing and vocabulary, the septuagenarian has revolutionised Bollywood and in view of which, the inaugural tomorrow will also see the launch of a limited edition of The Javed Akhtar Pen — a creation of Abhishek Haritwal and Symmetry.
As he is set to turn 75, the bash can't be an ordinary one and so it make it a grand eve, Shabana plans to organise a 70s style Bollywood themed party on Thursday.
"We want to salute the man that is Javed Akhtar — his indomitable will, tenacity, wisdom, intellect, and of course, his legendary sense of humour! Friends and family are trooping in from different parts of the world for the bash," said an overwhelmed Azmi.
Javed holds a notable part in the creation of masterpieces like Deewar, Sholay and Zanjeer among others. Not only has he won numerous accolades for his unmatched writing, but the veteran has also been vocal on possibly everything concerning his family or nation. Most recently, he hogged headlines when he joined anti-CAA protestors in Mumbai on Sunday.
Javed's take on Farhan-Shibani's relationship
Post his split from wife Adhuna Bhabnani, the Rock On star has been reported to be tying the knot soon with girlfriend and model Shibani Dandekar. Speaking on the same, Javed in an interview with Etimes recently had said, "I have just heard it from you. I was with Farhan on his birthday, which was the day before yesterday. He didn't tell me anything about this. But you never know, children can be very secretive."
