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Son of Well-known Urdu poet and film lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar, teacher and writer, Javed Akhtar belongs to a family lineage that can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet, Majaz was his mother's brother and the work of Muzter Khairabadi, his grandfather, is lookedupon as a milestone in Urdu poetry.

Javed Akhtar's body of work can be categorised under three distinct categories – as a scriptwriter, lyricist and poet.

Alongwith his ex-partner, Salim, he scripted super hits like, Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta, Don, Trishul, and so on. Salim-Javed as a writer-duo gave to Amitabh Bachchan and to Indian cinema the memorable persona of the Angry Young Man.

After the split from his partner Salim (in 1981), he has written a list of successful films, notable amongst them are Sagar, Mr. India, Betaab, Arjun and Lakshya among others.

Javed Akhtar started writing Urdu poetry in 1980. His first collection of Nazms and Ghazals entitled, Tarkash has had a very successful release in 1995. It is already in its ninth edition in Hindi, and fifth edition in Urdu. It has received rave reviews both as a book and as India's first audio book (available on cassettes and CD) brought out by Plus Music. The audiobook has sold more than a hundred thousand copies.

Javed Akhtar has written a large number of poems against communalism, social injustice, National Integration and for Women's Rights. Ministry of Human Resource Development has declared his song, beckoning the misguided youth to come forward and build the country, the National Anthem for Youth in 1995.

On the initiative of President Abdul Kalam, Javed Akhtar has written five poems on the Indian flag. Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussain, L Subramaniam and E Srinivas have interpreted these musically.

Two books Talking Films and Talking Songs published by Oxford University Press have featured Javed Akhtar in conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir a London based journalist. These have been hailed by film critics as the most definitive works on Indian Cinema. Talking Songs also carry translations of 60 Javed Akhtar’s songs.

He is a founder member of the respected Muslim Intelligentsia-a group that has been vocal against fundamentalism of all hues and seeks to lead the Muslims to concentrate on education and women's rights.

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti 2nd October 2003 Javed Akhtar released the declaration of Muslims for Secular Democracy.

He is an active member of Citizens for Justice and Peace. CJP is an organisation for eleven people that has kept the Gujarat Genocide issue alive and has taken Gujarat government to court.

India Today a weekly magazine equal to Time and News Week has included Javed Akhtar’s name in a list of 50 Most Powerful people in the Country.

Javed Akhtar is an avid reader with a keen interest in politics. His poetry reflects both his political awareness and his literary concerns.

He is married to Shabana Azmi, India's most respected actress and social activist and ex-Member of Parliament.

(Content sourced from official Web site)