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Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar changed the face of the Indian film industry with their hit-making streak in the 1970s, rising up the ranks of Bollywood to command as much respect and remuneration as some major movie stars. But their partnership came to an abrupt end, and while both of them have spoken about why they split, neither has given concrete reasons. Javed Akhtar’s wife, actor Shabana Azmi, said that she still doesn’t know why they broke up, as she was asked about the rumours that she might have played a role in the split.
Shabana appeared as a guest on Arbaaz Khan’s chat show, The Invincibles Series, where she addressed the subject. Arbaaz, the son of Salim Khan, said, “Salim-Javed were at the peak of their careers, and around the same time, you entered Javed saab’s life. And shortly afterwards, at the peak of their careers, they split. A lot of people tried to find answers as to why they would’ve split. Some went so far as to suggest that because Javed saab was a writer and poet, Shabana encouraged him to pursue a solo career. You might have heard these rumours too; I heard them as a child. How did you react to that?”
She said, “Arbaaz, will you believe it, that till today I don’t know why Salim-Javed have split. Since I thought it was a personal decision, I shouldn’t get involved in it. But I think what was happening is that he was going through some change. He had started writing poetry, he was moving into another kind of world. I don’t know what happened and why they ever split, but I do know that he was a much happier person having taken this huge risk. There is no merit or ‘dismerit’ meri taraf se.”
In the past, both Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar have addressed their decision to separate. Javed said in a chat with BBC News Hindi, “Shuru mein jab hum nakaam log the, struggle kar rahe the, toh bilkul ek the. Koi humare aur dost nahi the, hum hi baith ke subah se shaam tak kaam karte the. Shaam ko bhi saath the, raat ko khana bhi saath hota tha. 24 mein se 15-16 hours toh saath hi hote the. (In our earlier unsuccessful days, we were struggling, we were one. We did not have any other friends, we would work together from morning to evening. We would even have dinner together. Out of 24, we would spend 15-16 hours together).”
In a earlier chat with ETC, Salim Khan had recalled, “Every box has an expiry date– this also had one. We were near Javed’s house one evening when Javed told me he wanted to split, that he’d been thinking about it for some time now. I got up, shook hands with him and started walking towards my car. He also started to walk with me, but I held him, turned him towards his house and said, ‘I can look after myself.’ I came back home and didn’t tell anyone about it. The next evening, calls started coming in asking about the split. I asked Javed whether he told anyone, he said only a few friends knew. It was only after a few days that I announced the split.”
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