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NOSTALGIA

He considered it beneath his dignity to
approach people for work.

Writer Javed Akhtar goes down

memory lane and relives fond

memories of his father, the
legendary Jan Nissar Akhtar, in a

conversation with Subhash K Jha.

My father did not believe in peddling his My relationship with
poetry to producers. my father went through
It’s the centenary year of my father and as troubled times during my
his proud son it fills me with joy to see his childhood days.
birth anniversary being celebrated. He is He belonged to the Communist I began to bond with my father over
known for his some of his memorable film ideology and had to go underground in poetry.
lyrics like Ay dil-e-nadaan(Razia Sultan), Yeh Mumbai after an arrest warrant was issued When I was 18 he recognized the poet in
dil unki aur nigahon ke saaye (Prem Parbat), against him. I was barely 10 years old then. me and encouraged me to write. He would
Gam ki andheri raat mein dil ko na beqaraar My mother was left behind to look after recite what he wrote and we’d discuss his
kar (Sushila), Bekhudi had se jab guzar jaaye me and my brother. She was ill and bed- poetry. He would also take my criticism
(Kalpana) and many others. He scarcely ridden in Lucknow while my father lived as a seriously. We spoke poetry like equals. I
wrote for movies, not because he was not paying-guest in Mumbai. We went through learnt a lot from him but he was too timid
prolific but because he didn’t know how to more difficult times after my father got to take a stand. Now when I look back, I
sell himself to the film industry. He belonged remarried and our stepmother lived up to realize that my father’s shortcomings were
to the old school of humble, modest and her stereotypical image. Even when I came understandable. Over a period of time I’ve
self-respecting people. He considered it to Mumbai, I didn’t stay with my father. washed away my bitterness and come to
beneath his dignity to approach people terms with the person that he was.
for work. His poetry was revered but not
marketed properly.

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