Javed Akhtar reveals, “I feel Zoya is a BETTER screenplay writer than me”; also says “Maine apni zindagi mein saari major galtiyaan sharab pee ke ki hain. Since July 31, 1991, I haven’t had a single drop of alcohol”

By Fenil Seta -

December 31, 2023 - 4:00 PM IST

The show 'Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaoon' was held at a sprawling theatre in Mumbai on Friday, December 29. Presented by Saregama, it featured Javed Akhtar narrating never-before-heard stories behind some of the classic songs he wrote. This was followed by Meiyang Chang and Jahnvi Shrimankar singing those songs. The strong crowd of more than 2000 people had a gala time as Javed shared funny anecdotes while the singers crooned the tracks in their melodious voices.

Javed Akhtar reveals, “I feel Zoya is a BETTER screenplay writer than me”; also says “Maine apni zindagi mein saari major galtiyaan sharab pee ke ki hain. Since July 31, 1991, I haven’t had a single drop of alcohol”

At the beginning of the second half of the show, Javed Akhtar encouraged patrons to ask him questions. A lady asked him about how he manages to be so humble, despite his achievements. Javed Akhtar began by saying, “I can give a humourous answer to it, that is, ‘Main hoon hi aisa. Kya kiya jaaye?’!”

He continued, “On a serious note, you might be very rich, but somebody else will be richer than you. You might be very famous, but someone will be even more popular than you. But you start thinking you have achieved a lot when you feel that you have gone way beyond your expectations. Arrogance comes from low self-esteem. You start thinking, ‘Mere jaise insaan ko itna mil gaya? Kamaal ho gaya!’ Tab aapka dimaag kharab ho jaata hai. But if you feel that ‘Yeh toh kuch bhi nahin, mujhe toh aur bhi haasil karna hain’, you’ll be humble.” As expected, the hall thundered with applause.

At the start, Javed Akhtar confessed that he was the seventh generation poet in his family. A viewer asked him about his children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, and whether they have a love for poetry. The songwriter said, “Both Farhan and Zoya write poetry in English. Just like I was secretive about my poems in the beginning, they are also secretive. Farhan had recited his poems to me. Zoya made her friends hear her poems. Those friends told me. Usne directly mujhe kabhi nahin sunayi!”

He added, “They write their own scripts. They are very good writers. I feel Zoya is a better screenplay writer than me.”

Finally, a person asked him about his journey and this is when Javed Akhtar gave an unexpected answer, “When I look back, I only regret that I wasted 10 years of my life drinking. I could have constructively used that time. But I didn’t and I can’t compensate for it.”

He further opened up saying, “To all the youngsters here, I have no religious beliefs whatsoever and I am saying this because of my life experience – anybody who is a teetotaller is better off than anybody who is not. On July 31, 1991, I left alcohol and since then, I haven’t had a single drop. Maine apni zindagi mein saari major galtiyaan sharab pee ke ki hai. You might claim to be drinking in a balanced manner lekin aap kahin na kahin toh slip karoge hi.”

Also Read: Javed Akhtar reveals that he wrote the evergreen song ‘Tumko Dekha Toh Yeh Khayal Aaya’ in 9 minutes, that too when he was 9 pegs down