Writer Javed Akhtar’s and Honey Irani’s son turns 34 today, let us all wish Farhan Akhtar a very happy birthday. This extremely talented and creative and young director has made a place for himself in very little time.
He entered Bollywood at the age of 17, assisting directors and cinematographers. He dropped out of college and did various jobs like working for a TV production house and setting up his own production house, Excel Entertainment with childhood friend Ritesh Sidhwani.
Farhan made his directorial debut in Hindi cinema with the 2001 hit, Dil Chahta Hai, which starred Aamir Khan. It was a big success, especially popular among the younger generation. Many rate it as one of the greatest movies ever made in Bollywood. The movie earned quite a few nominations for different awards, and won the Filmfare best screenplay award. His next project was Lakshya with Hrithik Roshan, which was released in 2004. Though the movie did not do as well at the box office, it won him much critical acclaim. The script of the movie was written by his father Javed Akhtar.
He then directed a remake of the 1978 Amitabh Bachchan film, Don titled Don – The Chase Begins Again which starred ShahRukh Khan in the title role. The film released on 20 October 2006 and was a huge success at the box office. He produced the film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. which also did well at the box office.
Finally came Rock On which was phenomenon and a cult film just like Dil Chahta Hai. And Farhan has a lot to do with its success. He produced it, wrote the dialogues for it, acted in it and learnt how to sing the super hit songs. His husky voice seems perfect for Indian rock music. Farhan has won applauds from his viewers for his acting debut and all loved the sound of his voice on songs like Rock On and Tum Ho Toh. As part of promotions for Rock On, Magik, comprising Farhan, Arjun, Luke Kenny and Purab Kohli has toured the country making crowds groove to their rocking and magical music.
He is currently hosting Oye, It’s Friday which is a celeb talk show with a tinge of comedy.
On the personal front, Farhan is married to Adhuna Akhtar and they have two daughters: Shakya and Akira. They live in Bandra Bandstand. He is good friends with the Rock On cast and Shah Rukh Khan.
Farhan will be seen in sister Zoya’s directorial debut Luck By Chance in which he plays a struggling actor and in Vijay Lalwani’s thriller Kartik Calling Kartik with Deepika Padukone.
We wish one of Bollywood’s finest and most intelligent filmmakers a very Happy Birthday.
-Preity Punjabi
