Farhan Akhtar is basking in the success of the docu-series Angry Young Men. The show, which is based on the life of his father, ace lyricist Javed Akhtar, and Salim Khan, is jointly bankrolled by Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment, Zoya Akhtar’s Tiger Baby Films, and Salman Khan Films. Now, Farhan has opened up about the difficulties he faced in his childhood due to his parents Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani’s divorce. In a conversation with Faye D’Souza, the actor-turned-filmmaker revealed how his parents’ divorce and his separation from his ex-wife Adhuna Bhabani, were “difficult”. “I had been through having divorced parents when I was a kid. I know what it felt like, and there was a huge part of me that was like, I cannot do this to my kids,” the actor said.
Farhan Akhtar also shed light on his equation with ex-wife Adhuna Bhabani and why they decided to part ways after 16 years of marriage. He said, “I felt that it came to a place that if Adhuna and myself spoke to them openly and honestly, and explained to them why we are taking this kind of step, that it doesn’t have anything to do with them. It’s not because of them, it’s not because of anything they did, they said, or because they are here.”
“This is something between two grown-up people who, as friends, decided that this is something that they want to do. That’s the best we could do,” Farhan Akhtar continued.
He added, “It’s never going to entirely go away thinking about ‘Did they deserve this?’. It’s going to keep coming up. That’s something I guess I’ll just have to live with. The fact that it had happened to me as a kid played a huge role in how I feel about it now.”
Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna Bhabani got separated in 2016. They are parents to two daughters — Shakya and Akira. Farhan, in 2022, exchanged vows with actress Shibani Dandekar.
Meanwhile, Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani were married from 1972 to 1985. They share two children — Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Now, Javed Akhtar is married to Shabana Azmi.