Shabana Azmi on not having children with Javed Akhtar: 'Once I realised I couldn't have kids...'

Veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar and actress Shabana Azmi have been married for over four decades. There was an interview where Azmi spoke about not having children with Akhtar.

The actress told Simi Grewal, “Not being able to have children, in a sense, made the choices much easier because I could give so much more of my time because I think motherhood is very demanding. Once I realised 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.”

In a recent interview with ETimes, the actress spoke about why their marriage has lasted for so long. She said, “He (Javed Akhtar) says the success of our marriage is that we don’t meet too often, we are both busy running in different directions.”

Azmi added, “ We come from similar backgrounds – our fathers were poets from UP and communists, we have a common view on things – so people say considering these factors we should have had an arranged marriage."

According to   Shabana  , people tend to simplify the situation and assume that everything is resolved once a decision is made. She added that however, it’s not that simple, especially when children are involved. She emphasised that the process is emotionally draining and extremely painful, and one goes through a very difficult period.

In addition, Shabana revealed that due to the constant criticism and disapproval from society, she and   Javed Akhtar  attempted to end their relationship on several occasions. She said, “We did try to break several times, in fact three times we tried to break because of the children but it just didn’t happen.” She added that she is good friends with the kids, and Honey is like their family member. She stated that the relationship has worked out well in the end.