Shabana Azmi Opens Up on Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar's Split, Says 'Till Today, I Don't...'

Shabana Azmi was recently asked about her writer-husband Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan’s association that lasted until 1982, when both decided to split after which Javed moved into writing lyrics. The duo, best known as Salim-Javed, had penned scripts for several blockbuster movies. These included Sholay, Zanjeer, Deewar and Don to name a few. In a new interview, Shabana opened up about their split and said that she is still clueless about why the two parted ways.

The five-time National Film Award-winning actor addressed the topic while appearing on Salim Khan’s son, actor Arbaaz Khan’s talk show, The Invincibles. “Salim-Javed was at the peak of their career,” Arbaaz recalled in a teaser for the upcoming episode. “Till today, I do not know why Salim-Javed split up,” Shabana responded.

Shabana Azmi also opened up about dealing with Javed Akhtar’s alcoholism, emphasising that it was “difficult”. In the episode, Shabana will also discuss her relationship with Javed’s first wife Honey Irani and their children Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar.

During an interview with Mojo Story earlier this year, Javed Akhtar reflected on his and Salim Khan’s separation. He said, “When we began, both of us were nobodies, we only had each other. So, we would spend a lot of time together, sit by the sea, talk about stories. He would come to my room, I had one paying guest room, or I would go to his house, which was a small one. But when you become bigger, more successful, many more people enter your life. Then all those desires which were dormant, all those interests which were dormant… The moment you have done something which was the main issue of your life or the main interest, you reach a satisfactory position and then all the other interests start emerging.”

He clarified that their split had nothing to do with money or credit. “You start meeting different kind of people and then gradually you become different people and that is what happened. We did not fight, there was no issue about credit, there was never any issue about money, there was nothing. We just grew apart. One realised that relationship is no longer there, that we now don’t sit together in the evening, we have our own set of friends. Gradually that happened and the rapport weakened, and it was reflecting on our work also,” he added.