Well-known lyricist and screenwriter, Javed Akhtar, never shies away from sharing his thoughts on various industry-related topics and is currently making headlines with his recent comments on the show Chill Sesh. In the show, hosted by Sapan Verma, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Shreeja Chaturvedi, Javed Akhtar discussed the rising costs of celebrity entourage. This issue is not new; in the past, many filmmakers too criticised the new generation of stars for raising expenses due to their unreasonable demands. The Bollywood veteran highlighted that hairstylists nowadays charge at least Rs 75,000 per day, which caught the audiences and comedians off guard. The lyricist joked that if he had known about this earlier, he might have become a hairstylist instead.
Javed Akhtar explained, “I’ve heard more about it now, than before. They need three vans, they exercise in one van, food gets prepared in another, in the third van they sit and eat, something like this is happening. They bring 18-19 staff members, one of them keeps fixing their hair and they get Rs 75,000 per day. If we had known then we would have learned the same work. All this happens now. Back then, people were irregular, disciplined, they used to come late, but it’s too much now. Today, you have huge money, but there was no such money back then. This is not my experience, today I am not making a film."
During the interview, Sapan Verma further asked Javed Akhtar if working with his children, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar, is easy or if they question him about the progress of his work. Akhtar explained that while some people might hesitate to speak up because of his experience and status, his children do not hold back. According to the screenwriter, his son, Farhan doesn’t argue, but he simply rejects his lines. However, Zoya is more outspoken and often challenges his ideas. Akhtar added that while his children are fluent in English, they think and write in that language, but his first language is Urdu and Hindustani. He feels he has a better understanding of the language than them. This sometimes leads to disagreements, as they tell him that his ideas are too traditional or outdated.
“In the last 20-25 years I have written a script for Farhan, Lakshya. I have written dialogues for Zoya’s first picture, Luck By Chance. She told me that, ‘You understand these people and these characters more than we do.’ So I know their language. Then came Dil Dhadakne Do, there was a dog in it, who used to think. She took that dog’s dialogue from me, rest I did not write, only the dialogue of the dog," Akhtar added.
Recently, Javed Akhtar appeared in the Amazon Prime Video documentary, Angry Young Men, alongside Salim Khan. This documentary sheds light on their creative process and the impact they have had on the film industry.
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