Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian actor, filmmaker and singer who works in Hindi films. Born to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he established the production company Excel Entertainment, along with Ritesh Sidhwani, in 1999.
Akhtar made his directorial the debut with the coming-of-age film Dil Chahta Hai, receiving critical acclaim for portraying realistic modern Indian youth, and winning the National Award for Best Hindi Film and Filmfare Awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay. He then directed the war film Lakshya, the action thriller Don and its sequel Don 2.
As an actor, Akhtar made his screen debut with the musical drama Rock On!!, for which he won a second National Film Award for Best Hindi Film as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He starred in, wrote the dialogues for, and produced the buddy-road film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which won him Filmfare Awards for Best Film, Best Supporting Actor and Best Dialogue. Akhtar then portrayed athlete Milkha Singh in the biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His subsequent roles were in the family drama Dil Dhadakne Do, the crime thriller Wazir, and the dramas The Sky Is Pink and Toofaan.
Early life and family
Farhan Akhtar was born in Mumbai, the second child of screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani. He has one elder sister, the writer–director Zoya Akhtar. His ancestors belonged to Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He was very young when his parents divorced; his father married actress Shabana Azmi in 1984. His mother retained the family home in Bandra Bandstand and raised her children there. Akhtar studied at Maneckji Cooper School in Mumbai and then pursued a law degree at HR College, also in Mumbai. Akhtar's father, a Muslim by birth and culture, is a socialist and has described himself as an atheist; Akhtar's mother, born into an Irani Zoroastrian family in India, is indifferent to religion, and was content to let her children grow up with no religion. Akhtar has stated that he is an atheist.Akhtar's family hails from Khairabad in the Avadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, and he comes from a long lineage of Urdu poets. He is the grandson of Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar and great-grandson of Urdu poet Muztar Khairabadi. On his mother's side, Akhtar is the nephew of the child actress Daisy Irani and the first cousin of choreographer & director Farah Khan and film director Sajid Khan.
Personal life
Akhtar married Adhuna Bhabani in 2000, after being in a relationship with her for 3 years. They first met during the filming of his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai, which also marked Bhabani's debut as a Bollywood hairstylist. The couple has two daughters named Shakya and Akira. On 21 January 2016, they announced their separation after 16 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalised on 24 April 2017, with Bhabani having custody of their children.Akhtar started dating video jockey Shibani Dandekar in 2018. On 19 February 2022, they got married in a non-religious ceremony at his Khandala farmhouse.
Career
Akhtar worked as an apprentice in film distribution and direction for Yash Chopra's Lamhe when he was 17 years old and later moved to an advertisement production house named "Script Shop" to spend an approximate 3 years there. He also assisted Pankaj Parashar as a director in Himalay Putra before launching himself into direction and writing.Directing, writing and producing
Akhtar made his writing and directorial debut with the critically acclaimed coming-of-age comedy-drama Dil Chahta Hai, produced by Excel Entertainment, a production company he established along with Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999. It was shot over a period of three months in Sydney, Goa and Mumbai. Due to its acclaim, he called it a "turning point" in his career. The film dealt with the lives of westernised urban youth in Mumbai. Akhtar had written the script based on his trips to Goa and New York City, as well as a narration of a story outline by a friend of his, Kassim Jagmagia, who would eventually become a co-producer at Excel Entertainment in the future. It received international critical acclaim and attained an iconic status, with Akhtar receiving credit for starting a "new wave" in Indian cinema. Critic Ziya Us Salam praised Akhtar's direction and commented for The Hindu: "In his maiden venture, Javed Akhtar's son shows enough glimpses of his pedigree to indicate that promise will attain fulfilment sooner than later." Various award shows conferred accolades on the film and nominated it for several categories. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for 2002, in addition to the Filmfare Award for Best Film. It was also screened at the International Film Festival of India, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the Austin Film Festival. In the same year, he and his sister Zoya Akhtar assisted their father in writing the English lyrics of a song in Lagaan, for which the soundtrack was scored by A. R. Rahman.Akhtar's next project was the war drama Lakshya, a film about an aimless youngster finally setting a goal for himself, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. It was shot in Ladakh, Dehra Dun and Mumbai, and marked the beginning of the collaborations between Akhtar and Roshan. He had to research the army before writing the script and directing the venture. The theme of the film, as stated by Akhtar, was about "finding oneself". He also believed that if the same characters and situation were set elsewhere, the main core of the story would remain the same as the film was not about war, as it had been reported. Post-release, the film failed to make a mark at the box office and became a commercial failure. Parul Gupta of The Times of India gave it a negative review and explained that "It's hard to reconcile to such triviality when it comes from Farhan Akhtar, considered the ultimate symbol of cool in Hindi filmdom." On the contrary, Manish Gajjar from BBC wrote, in his positive review: "Young Farhan Akhtar, proves yet again that he is one of the finest directors Bollywood has to date. He has paid full attention to the script and the technical aspects, giving rise to a polished product". Over the years, the film became a cult classic and was praised to be one of the best movies ever made. 20 years after Lakshya was released, Akhtar, in an interview, stated that the movie made a huge impact in motivating youth across India to join the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, Akhtar wrote the English lyrics of Gurinder Chadha's Hollywood film Bride and Prejudice, along with his sister, Zoya Akhtar, after being recommended by his father. The music for the film was composed by Anu Malik and consisted of a mixture of Hindi songs, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and Grease.
In 2006, Akhtar directed, produced and wrote the screenplay of Don starring Shah Rukh Khan in the title role alongside Priyanka Chopra, a remake of Don, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman. It marked his first project holding the status of a remake. The character of Don became iconic and popular. Despite this, he noted that he did not mean to be a "torchbearer of the remake brigade" and did not feel comfortable with being credited for the trend of remakes in the film industry. The film released on 20 October 2006 and was declared a "hit" at the box office, grossing around worldwide. The film was particularly noted for its dialogues. However, critics predominantly condemned Akhtar's direction and screenplay. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama said Akhtar had "climbed the ladder as far as craftsmanship is concerned but despite a readymade classic at his disposal, the storyteller just doesn't get it right this time."
In 2007, Akhtar produced the film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., directed by debutant Reema Kagti and starring Abhay Deol, Minissha Lamba, Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani. The music for the film was composed by Vishal–Shekhar, marking their first collaboration with him. Akhtar was supposed to make his acting debut with the film, but he had to be replaced by Abhay Deol as he was involved with Don. The film was financed and funded by Exim Bank. This was the first time Excel Entertainment collaborated with a different director as all their previous projects had been involving Akhtar as a director. The story of the film revolved around six couples who went to Goa on a honeymoon. The film opened up on 23 February and received mixed reviews from critics, and ended up with an "average" box office result.
In the same year, Akhtar directed Positive, a film produced by Shernaz Italia and Frenzy Kodaiji, starring Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi. It was a short film running for 12 minutes. Dealing with a family's attitude towards a person suffering from HIV-AIDS, the film was shot in Mumbai and aimed at creating awareness about the problem. It also introduced Arjun Mathur in the film industry. Speaking about the purpose of the project, Akhtar stated that "Just as a social stigma, many people believe that an HIV patient should be isolated. They also have certain misconceptions about dealing with the disease. And since India has a lot of joint families, it becomes very important for them to understand the value of support to the person who has acquired this disease. This is exactly what Positive talks about." The film had its background score composed by Ram Sampath but had no soundtrack. It was a part of the "AIDS JaaGo", a series of four short films, directed by Mira Nair, Santosh Sivan, Vishal Bhardwaj and himself, in a joint initiative of Mira Nair's Mirabai Films, voluntary organisations Avahan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Akhtar's first project in 2011 as a writer and producer was the mystery thriller Game, directed by Abhinay Deo. The lead cast consisted of Abhishek Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Boman Irani and Jimmy Shergill. The film received highly negative reviews post release, with critics panning almost all the aspects of it. At the box office, it had a poor opening, and later resulted in giving losses for the distributors, due to a heavily negative word-of-mouth. It was described as a "washout" by trade analysts.
Later that year, Akhtar wrote, produced and directed Don 2, a sequel to his previous venture Don. It marked his return to direction after a gap of nearly 5 years. His decision of making a sequel was explained by him in an interview: "I am wary of sequels having to be made. With Don 2 I could finally make an action thriller the way I wanted to. Good story, classic action and simple plot which has one goal and work towards it effectively and dramatically." The film was a major success in India and went on to become the year's highest-grossing Bollywood production in overseas markets with a worldwide gross of. It received predominantly positive reviews from critics, with Khalid Mohammed stating: "Throughout, you can't help feeling that Farhan Akhtar could have made three far more valuable films out of the budget squandered on this thriller where cars are smashed as if they were tea cups."
In 2012, Akhtar produced and wrote the script of the neo-noir thriller Talaash: The Answer Lies Within. His production work was followed by the comedy films Fukrey, Bangistan and Fukrey Returns, the time-travel romance Baar Baar Dekho and the action film Raees.