Most of us know that veteran lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar has a younger brother named Salman Akhtar who is also an author and a psychoanalyst. However, there have been some unresolved issues between them that have stopped them from communicating with each other. In a recent interview, the latter opened up about their feud and revealed if things can get better between them.
Salman Akhtar was in a chat with The Lallantop wherein he spoke about mentioning his elder brother Javed Akhtar in his book Ghar Ka Bhedi despite not being on talking terms with him. Responding to this query, the psychoanalyst stated that he writes about Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott, and Faiz, but he has never met anyone in his life. “So, to write about him (Javed), but not having met him is no contradiction in my opinion. Both things are possible, no?” he quipped.
When questioned if things can go back to normal between them, Salman expressed that if Zoya and Farhan Akhtar’s dad Javed Saab want to talk to him “that’s a good choice because I am a pretty decent person.” While they haven’t spoken in years, the siblings continue to stay connected ‘intuitively’, he said.
Spilling more about the feud that is keeping them from staying in touch, he shared that there are a lot of things that happen that have nuance and are very complex. “They have fine tendrils, emotions, and history. They are not matters which can be discussed in a broad public way,” he stated. Having said that, the younger Akhtar stated that the National Award-winning lyricist is a very erudite, intelligent, sharp-witted man and a very good poet.
While they haven’t spoken in years, the siblings continue to stay connected ‘intuitively’, he said. Elaborating on this, Salman Akhtar told the host that they may meet or not meet, but they are also very close intuitively adding that the brothers know each other very well. According to him, the screenplay writer knows Salman very well and he knows which joke will make the screenplay writer laugh. “We have this intuitive connection. There are deeper connections than language and physical exchange,” Salman Akhtar concluded.
Last month, director Namrata Rao unveiled a docu-series, Angry Young Men, depicting the life, success, struggles, and breakup of legendary screenwriters of 1970s, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.
