Shabana Azmi opens up about difficulties she faced after deciding to wed 'married man' Javed Akhtar

Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi married Javed Akhtar in 1984. At the time Javed Akhtar was already married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children - Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. 

Now, during a chat with Twinkle Khanna, shared on the Tweak India YouTube channel, Shabana opened up about the difficulties she faced when she decided to wed 'married man' Javed Akhtar. 

Shabana Azmi also revealed that her parents were not in favour of the relationship. When Twinkle asked her about the difficulties she faced, Shabana said, "He was a married man, he had children, it was really tough. And that's why I feel that people shouldn't speculate. It's difficult enough for the people involved and then just for gossip's sake. And obviously, people are going to say, 'You call yourself a feminist, and then how have you got yourself in this situation?'"

Shabana also praised Honey Irani, Javed Akhtar's first wife, and appreciated her for her support, and spoke about how she 'never poisoned the children's minds against me' during that time. 

Shabana said, "At that time, I had a choice. I could explain my point of view, which would justify the action I had taken, but I felt if I did that, it would lead to more speculation, and more gossip, so I decided to go quiet. In time people will come to know, and that is exactly what happened. Now of this, the real good thing that happened, and I give Honey a lot of credit for it, because through it all, she never poisoned the children's minds against me. She could have been really generous, and she would have been justified… But she never, never did that. In fact, she sent the children with us to London when they were really young, and that became a bonding, and it's to her credit, and Javed's credit, and my credit that we have such a healthy relationship with Zoya and Farhan."