Shabana Azmi recalls Javed Akhtar’s most romantic gift on his 50th birthday, touched by his gesture

Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary this year. The couple was married on December 9, 1984. The actor revealed that he and Javed have maintained a good relationship over the years, as they are friends first and share the same worldview. While she has also said that the veteran lyricist is not a romantic at heart, Shabana recently recalled how he surprised her with a beautiful gesture for her 50th birthday. (Also Read: Javed Akhtar attended Pakistan’s Faiz Festival, talked about marrying Shabana: ‘Our friendship is so good that…’,

Javed Akhtar was first married to actor-screenwriter Honey Irani and they have two children, daughter Zoya Akhtar and son Farhan Akhtar. Shabana also revealed that when they both fight occasionally, they have a rule to release their anger during the fight, in order to avoid saying anything wrong to each other. Like Javed, she is not romantic in nature but appreciated the efforts that once went into bringing to her something she admired from abroad.

Talking to Pinkvilla, Shabana said, ‘I am not one to give value to expensive gifts at all. But sometimes he does beautiful things. There was a Salvador Dali statue in London that I really liked. He said, ‘Let’s take it.’ I said, ‘no no, it’s too expensive’ and left it. Then I think on my 50th birthday, I found that statue in my bedroom with his poem Time, which was written in a very beautiful letter. He had gone through such limits that I should not know (about the surprise). It was what touched me, the effort he put in. Otherwise, I do not value such gifts.

The actor’s latest film What’s Love Got To Do With It? Currently in cinemas. She reunites with her Masoom (1983) director Shekhar Kapur for the English film starring Emma Thompson and Lily James. She plays Aisha, a British-Asian mother who arranges for her son Kazim (Shazad Latif) to marry a girl in Pakistan. The film also stars Sajal Aly.

Shabana will also be seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky and Rani’s love story later this year. He is accompanied by Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Jaya Bachchan and Dharmendra in the film.