Shabana Azmi called her co-wife ‘dani’, said- divorce is very difficult, I am not Farhan-Zoya’s step mother…

New Delhi. Javed Akhtar’s first marriage was with screenwriter Honey Irani. After marriage, Farhan and Zoya Akhtar were born to them. But, after having children, Javed Akhtar fell in love again and fell in love with actress Shabana Azmi. Amidst the success of ‘Zanjeer’, Javed Akhtar’s growing closeness with Shabana Azmi became a topic of speculation in the media. When Honey started feeling that there was nothing left in this relationship to spend life together, she took the toughest decision of her life and got divorced.

In 1984, Javed and Shabana got married, while his divorce from Honey was finalised between 1984 and 1985. During this challenging period, Honey never expressed bitterness towards her ex-husband or Shabana, but instead focused on the well-being of her children. Today, Shabana shares a close bond with both Zoya and Farhan, while she calls Honey ‘family’.

Only because of Honey, Zoya and Farhan formed a special bond
Recently, during an interview, Shabana talked about her husband’s first wife’s relationship with Zoya and Farhan. She said that whatever relationship I have with my children today is all due to Honey. Talking to Zoom, she said that this is because of Honey’s generosity! This would not have been possible if Honey was not so generous or charitable in sharing them (children). She used to do this since they (Zoya and Farhan) were small children. When they got this from their mother and she told them that I am not the ‘step mother’ they had read about in fairy tales, it became very easy.

Honey is still a part of the family
She further told how she never put any pressure on Zoya and Farhan and kept the relationship natural and organic. Shabana said, ‘I did not force myself on them and did not try too hard. I let the water flow in its own way. It is really a beautiful relationship’. She further said that I would give a lot of credit for this to Honey as well as myself, Javed and the children. Today when you see us, we are like a family. Honey is still a member of the family.

” width=”1200″ height=”900″ /> Honey Irani is seen in actor Javed Akhtar’s family function.

Divorce is painful
She admitted that separation between a couple, especially if they are married, is always ‘painful’ and it was no different in Javed and Honey’s case. It had a negative effect on her too. She recalled a dialogue from her film and said that it hurts every time. The actress said, ‘Divorce between a man and a woman, a few words written on a piece of paper does not change the relationship between them.’ It was my line in the film ‘Arth’ where my character (Puja) tells Inder (Kulbhushan Karbandha), ‘Kavita (Smita Patil) wants a bond from you that can be broken even with a signature.’ Realise that people are in a hurry to take decisions. Divorce is very painful for the three people involved, so people should not take the decision. It is not that it was easy, it was painful and every time a divorce happens, it is always painful.

Why did she maintain silence after marrying Javed?
When Honey and Javed were going through their separation, Shabana made sure that she maintained a dignified silence amidst fans questioning her stand on feminism. However, she insisted that the media and her industry peers were not critical or harsh about her decision to marry Javed. “Both Javed sahab and I are feminists, so my fans were shocked because they saw it as a blow to the feminism they associated me with. But at that time, I had two options – either keep quiet and say nothing or explain myself, which would have hurt many people around me. So it was wise to keep quiet because obviously when people were saying, ‘How can you let us down?’ ‘You are a feminist! How can you do this to another woman!’

When Honey Irani spoke about her broken relationship
Let us tell you that Honey Irani once broke her silence on her broken relationship. In an article published in MensXP, she is quoted as saying why she separated from Javed Akhtar. She said, ‘I realized that there is no point in staying with a man who does not love me anymore’.