MUMBAI: Javed Akhtar has spoken candidly about his battle with drinking and his marriage to his first wife, Honey Irani. They separated in 1985 after 11 years of marriage. Akhtar talked about the impact his alcoholism had on their relationship. He also stated on Mojo Story that he supports the idea of an Indian Uniform Civil Code and that he lives by similar rules.

(Also read: Surprising! Karan Johar's candid disclosure of Javed Akhtar's initial disapproval of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' title; Later realised his mistake)

He stated, “I am living in uniform civil code. I was married to a lady, after 11 years of marriage we got divorced. According to Muslim personal law, I was only responsible to give her alimony for four months but I didn’t think that. She was my responsibility. It is also her choice whether she wants my support or not, but whenever she wanted and whenever she will, or she may not as she is very self respecting person, but I’m available for help. I walked out of the house with some books and some clothes. That’s all. And now we are best of friends because of this relationship and this understanding.”

He shared how alcohol affected his first marriage, saying, he started drinking at 20-21 and stopped at 42. He recalled, “I started drinking at the age of 20-21 and left when I was 42 years old. I could afford a bottle and used to drink almost a bottle every night. It’s very common for Urdu poetics to become big drunkards because they believe that if they are poets and artistes, they should be carefree and you should drink. I think I had those wrong values.”

He clarified that his upbringing in Lucknow taught him manners, which prevented the use of vulgar words. However, he changed into someone else when he drank.

“On the other side, all the tehzeeb that I learned in Lucknow didn’t allow me to use foul language, so all the bitterness was compressed inside me. But when I used to drink all those barriers will break and I would become a very nasty man and would use foul language. I used to become another person. It was unhealthy, irrational and causing problem to many people. It impacted my marriage with Honey. If I was a sober and responsible person, the story would have been different,” he said.

Javed Akhtar also revealed that he "somehow managed" his alcoholism for the first ten years of their marriage with veteran actor Shabana Azmi.

(Also read: SAD! When Shabana Azmi tried to end her life)

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Credits – News 18