In Mumbai, Javed Akhtar celebrated his daughter, filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, with a warm Instagram post on her birthday. The veteran lyricist‑screenwriter uploaded a photo of them together and wrote, “Happy birthday, Zoya dearest. I still remember the day you were born. I felt so strange when a little baby was given to me.”
Javed continued, “Your eyes were looking at me without much focus, then you gave me a toothless smile and that moment it got decided that a father will love his daughter forever.” His touching words show how deeply he feels for Zoya.
Javed Akhtar first married actress Honey Irani, with whom he had two children, Farhan Akhtar and Nov. Zoya, later married Shabana Azmi in 1984. Their son, actor‑producer Farhan, and daughter Zoya are both well known in Bollywood.
Zoya Akhtar earned a filmmaking diploma at NYU and worked with directors Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal before striking out on her own. She made her directorial debut with the 2009 drama Luck by Chance, but it was the 2011 comedy‑drama Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara that truly broke her through. Since then she has helmed hits like Dil Dhadakne Do, contributed segments to the anthologies Lust Stories and Ghost Stories, and directed the musical drama Gully Boy.
She also created the streaming drama series Made in Heaven and the crime thriller Dahaad. Zoya’s latest project is the 2024 coming‑of‑age film Superboys of Malegaon, directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Zoya herself. The film, based on the 2008 documentary Supermen of Malegaon, follows Nasir Shaikh and other amateur filmmakers from the small town of Malegaon. It stars Adarsh Gourav, Vineet Kumar Singh, Shashank Arora, and Anuj Singh Duhan.
Superboys of Malegaon premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and opened the 2025 National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA), where it won Best Feature Film.
Source: ianslive
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