3 min readChennaiMar 3, 2026 11:12 AM IST
Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have been married for 41 years. The two often speak candidly about their relationship, and Shabana has frequently accused Javed — the celebrated writer responsible for penning countless romantic songs — of not being romantic in real life. In a recent interaction, she reiterated the same claim. However, Javed defended himself by recalling the time he bought an entire shop of flowers for her.
Speaking at Mojo Story, Javed Akhtar refused to pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Shabana. Offering a pragmatic take, he said that falling in love does not happen the way it is portrayed in films. According to him, love is a gradual process, and one cannot identify a specific moment when he or she falls in love. Responding to his remark, Shabana said, “So he has busted the myth. In case any of you things that because he writes so many romantic songs, he must be a romantic husband. There is not a romantic bone in his body.”
When asked about the story of Javed Akhtar gifting an entire flower shop to Shabana, he downplayed it and said, “There is nothing like that, it just happened once.” Shabana then went on to narrate the full incident. She said, “This was during our courtship days and we were passing by a florist. I told him the flowers are so beautiful, and he stopped the car and bought the entire shop. I just fell head over heels for him.”
Shabana also recalled how her mother had once warned her against falling for a poet and writer. She shared, “Later, when we were not talking to each other, he send me a poem. After reading the poem, my mom said, ‘Mat phaso, a poet always traps you with his words. Isse dur raho’ (Stay away from him).”
While Shabana and Javed appear to be the perfect couple in public, they admitted that being two fiercely independent and opinionated individuals means disagreements are inevitable. However, over the years, they have found a way to navigate their conflicts. Speaking about it, she said, “We do fight. However, when we are really going to be nasty with each other, we have this magical word ‘drop it’ and we actually drop it and we get back to the issue after 10 days when we are more calm. It saves so much hurt, disrespect and regret.”
