Shabana Azmi admits ‘stamping over’ Honey Irani’s rights by marrying Javed Akhtar: ‘After all mud flung at me..’

Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi- Honey Irani

Shabana Azmi has recently opened up about settling down with Javed Akhtar, while he was married to actress-writer Honey Irani. The Arth actress joined Filmfare for a conversation, and revealed the backlash she received for being a feminist, and ‘stamping over’ the rights of Honey. For the unversed, Shabana married Javed on December 9, 1984. Javed was previously married to Honey Irani in 1972. They both became parents to Zoya and Farhan Akhtar. However, after Javed married Shabana, he divorced Honey, but they continued to remain cordial over the years.  

Speaking about the decision Shabana and Javed took, she said, “I was this feminist model and I had done something that was inexplicable. Because it was like everything that I’d said, I was stamping over another woman’s rights for my own happiness, and I think people who had sort of followed me as a feminist had every right to feel that.” 

Azmi further explained how they maintained the sanity of their relationship by not explaining their circumstances to people. “What I figured was that if I started explaining the circumstances in which it had been done, it would lead to much more hurt to the people involved and the families involved and that it’s better to keep quiet,” she said. 

Calling it a very ‘sagacious’ decision, Shabana admitted the healthy relationship she has with Honey. “After all the mud that was flung at me, it died down. Today, I have such a healthy relationship with Honey that people just won’t believe it. Because no mud was flung, and I think the credit for that goes to Honey and me, and Javed. (Usually) you’re in a big hurry to explain, but all three of us refrained from that, and I think that was a very wise decision,” she concluded. On the work front, Shabana was last seen in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.