Javed Akhtar pens emotional b'day note for daughter Zoya, recalls holding her for first time

Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar penned a heartfelt birthday note for his filmmaker daughter Zoya Akhtar, remembering the day she was born.

Taking to Instagram, Javed shared a picture posing with Zoya. Reminiscing about the day she was born, he wrote: “Happy birthday Zoya dearest . How vividly I remember the day you were born . How strange I felt when this little baby was given in my arms.”

“Your eyes were looking at me without much focus then suddenly you gave me a toothless smile and that moment it got decided that a father will love his daughter for ever and ever . Pa,” Javed added.

Javed Akhtar was married to Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. He then married National Award-winning actress Shabana Azmi in 1984.

After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU Zoya assisted directors Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becoming a writer and director.

She made her directorial debut in 2009 with the drama Luck by Chance. She achieved her breakthrough with the comedy-drama Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara in 2011. She has since directed the comedy-drama Dil Dhadakne Do, segments in the anthology films Lust Stories and Ghost Stories, and the musical drama Gully Boy.

She has also worked on the streaming drama series Made in Heaven and the crime thriller series Dahaad.

Her latest work includes coming-of-age drama film Superboys of Malegaon is a 2024 directed by Reema Kagti. The movie was produced by Zoya.

The film is inspired by the 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon, it is based on the life of Nasir Shaikh and other amateur filmmakers in the small town of Malegaon. The film stars Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, Shashank Arora, and Anuj Singh Duhan.

The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Superboys of Malegaon was selected as the Opening Night Film at the 2025 National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA), where it was also awarded Best Feature Film.

--IANS

dc/