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Javed Akhtar Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 4, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth17 January 1945

Age80 Years

BirthplaceGwalior, Gwalior State, Central India Agency, British India

ProfessionLyricist, Screenwriter, Poet

NationalityIndian

Marital statusMarried

SpouseShabana Azmi (m. 1984), previously Honey Irani

FamilyFather: Jan Nisar Akhtar; Mother: Safia Akhtar; Children: Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar

Javed Akhtar Biography

Javed Akhtar is an Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter whose career spans decades. Born in 1945 in Gwalior and raised in a family of writers, he becamea

Early life and background

Javed Akhtar was born on 17 January 1945 in Gwalior, then part of the Gwalior State in British India. He comes from a family with a long literary lineage: his father Jan Nisar Akhtar was a noted poet and songwriter, and other ancestors and relatives were active in poetry and scholarship. The family later identified Lucknow as their hometown. Akhtar studied at Saifiya College in Bhopal and holds a graduate degree in arts.

He arrived in Mumbai in the mid-1960s to pursue work in the film industry. In those early years he faced severe hardship, at times sleeping outdoors before finding shelter and work at a studio. His formative years also included close contact with established poets; he assisted Kaifi Azmi and spent time in literary circles that influenced his development as a writer.

Career

Akhtar first made his mark in the Indian film industry as part of the celebrated writing partnership Salim–Javed. The two met on a film set in 1966 and began collaborating, with Akhtar primarily responsible for dialogue writing while Salim Khan concentrated on story and structure. Over the course of their partnership they worked on two dozen films, about twenty of which were commercial successes. Their collaborations include enduring works from the 1970s and early 1980s, among them the widely known film Sholay.

After the partnership ended in the early 1980s, Akhtar continued to work successfully on his own. His solo screenwriting debut came with Betaab in 1983, and as a lyricist he began receiving prominent assignments from the early 1980s onward, with Silsila cited as one of the films that featured his songs. Across his career he has been credited as a poet, a lyricist for film songs, and a screenwriter, contributing significantly to Indian cinema and popular songcraft.

Recognition and awards

Akhtar’s contributions to literature and film have been recognized with some of India’s civilian honors and major awards. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007. He has been a multiple-time recipient of the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for work on films such as Saaz, Border, Godmother, Refugee and Lagaan. In the literary sphere he received the Sahitya Akademi Award (Urdu) for his poetry collection Lava in 2013. More recently, he was honored with a Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Award for Best Lyricist in February 2024 for a song from the film Dunki.

Public profile

Akhtar is known publicly not only for his creative work but also for his outspoken views on social and cultural issues. Described in available records as an atheist, he has at times engaged in public debate on matters of politics, media and social justice. His public interventions have occasionally led to controversy and legal actions involving other public figures.

Personal life and family

His father Jan Nisar Akhtar and mother Safia Akhtar were both involved in artistic pursuits, and Akhtar’s extended family includes siblings and older generations who were poets. He was married to Honey Irani, and later married actress Shabana Azmi in December 1984. From his first marriage he has two children who are active in the film industry: Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. He is popularly known by the nickname Jadoo.

Latest updates

Akhtar continued to receive recognition for his lyrical work into the 2020s, including the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Award for a 2024 song. He has also been involved in legal and public disputes that remained in the media in the early-to-mid 2020s.
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Recent Work

Dunki (song: 'Nikle The Kabhi Hum Ghar Se')

Received Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Award for Best Lyricist for the song

2024
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Career Highlights

  1. Part of the Salim–Javed screenwriting duo that produced around 24 films, including many commercial successes
  2. Solo screenwriting debut with Betaab (1983)
  3. Established film lyricist beginning in the early 1980s
  4. Padma Shri (1999) and Padma Bhushan (2007)
  5. Five-time National Film Award winner for Best Lyrics
  6. Sahitya Akademi Award (Urdu) for Lava (2013)
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Javed Akhtar born?

17 January 1945

What is Javed Akhtar known for?

Lyricist, Screenwriter, Poet

What is Javed Akhtar’s marital status?

Married

Who is Javed Akhtar married to?

Shabana Azmi (m. 1984), previously Honey Irani