Shabana Azmi struggles to come to terms with the fact that she and Javed Akhtar cannot have children: ‘Society’s expectations can make you feel inadequate’
Shabana Azmi has been married to veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar for almost 40 years now but the couple never embraced a child. The actress who cannot bear a kid due to medical reasons recently spoke to Indian Express about society making her feel incomplete and accepting the reality.
Azmi expressed, “It’s tough coming to terms with the fact that you can’t bear children. Society makes you feel incomplete. You have to work hard to pull yourself out of that.” The 73-year-old further encouraged all women to understand that the ultimate sense of their self must come from their work. Shabana said that women measure their self-worth from their relationships (wife, mother daughter…) but men measure it in reference to their career and work.
“I believe that should apply to all genders.” In a 2000 interview with Simi Grewal, the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani star spoke about how she didn’t take much time to move on from accepting the fact that she could not bear a baby. For Azmi, it wasn’t any sort of ‘major disappointment’ but rather she was herself amazed at how easily she accepted her fate.
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Shabana said, “Once I realized I couldn’t have kids, I didn’t let it linger over and make me unhappy. I just packed my bags and carried on from there and was very grateful for many other things that I could do.” However, why did Shabana Azmi never adopt a child with Javed Akhtar? The Arth actress admitted that she was very happy with her stepchildren (Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar) and redirected all her love towards them.
“I am very friendly with Javed’s kids so that need was fulfilled. They have grown up and they are at a time when I don’t have to change their nappies or worry about their malaria,” said Shabana adding that not having children made her more focussed on her career because according to her ‘motherhood is very demanding’.
Javed Akhtar was previously married to Honey Irani from 1972 to 1985 and the duo are parents to filmmakers Farhan and Zoya. The lyricist recently saw the release of a docu-series based on his life and Salim Khan titled Angry Young Men.
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