Javed Akhtar

Son of the well-known Urdu poet and film lyricist, Jan Nissar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar, teacher and writer, Javed Akhtar belongs to a lineage that can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet, Majaz, was his mother’s brother and the work of Muzter Khairabadi, his grandfather, is looked upon as a milestone in Urdu poetry.

Both Jan Nissar Akhtar & Safia Akhtar were professors at Hamidia College, Bhopal. Javed Akhtar did his schooling at the Cambridge School in Bhopal, Calvin Talukadar College in Lucknow, Mintoo Circle at Aligarh, and graduated from Saifiya College, Bhopal in 1964.

Javed Akhtar started writing Urdu poetry in 1980. His first collection of nazms and ghazals, Tarkash, had a very successful release in 1995 and is in its seventh edition in Hindi and fourth edition in Urdu. It has received rave reviews both as a book and as India’s first audio book, having sold more than a hundred thousand copies. On the other hand, his Ghazal albums like Sangam, for example, in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed singer-composer, late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, also had record sales.

Akhtar is also known for his celebrated partnership with Salim Khan, with whom he wrote some of the biggest hits in Indian cinema during the 70s and 80s, which included story, screenplay and dialogue for films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta, Don and Trishul.



After their split, Akhtar continued to write scripts for films which include Sagar, Mr. India, Betaab and Arjun have been tremendously successful at the box-office. He began writing lyrics with Yash Chopra’s Silsila. He is at present the highest paid lyricist in India. Many of his songs, in particular, from films like Mr. India, Sagar, Tezaab, 1942-A Love Story, Sardari Begum, Border, Saaz and of course Lagaan and recently Lakshya have been chart toppers and some have gone on to become classics.

For his writings Akhtar has won several awards. Awarded the National Award for the Best Lyricist for three years in succession (Saaz [1997], Border [1998] and Godmother [1999]. He was the recipient of Padmashri in 1999. After Lagaan, he is now penning the lyrics again for Ashutosh Gowarikar in Swades.

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