Farhan Akhtar - Personal life, Film Career, Family and More

Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian film producer, screenwriter, actor, playback singer, songwriter and TV host. His first film as a director (Dil Chahta Hai, 2001) was highly praised and has since gained a distinct identity in a particular audience. He made his acting debut with Anand Surapur's films, The Fakir of Venice (2007) and Rock On (2008).

Personal life and background

Farhan Akhtar was born to Mumbai scriptwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani. He was born into an Iranian-Muslim family. He did his schooling at Manik G. Cooper School in Juhu and later enrolled in HR College for a degree in Commerce, although he dropped out in the second year.

Actress Shabana Azmi is his stepmother. He is the grandson of Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar and cousin of Bollywood film director and dance choreographer Farah Khan. His sister, Zoya Akhtar, made her directorial debut with the film Luck By Chance, starring Farhan in the lead. He is married to Adhuna Bhavani Akhtar, a hairstylist who runs a Bee Blunt salon with her brother. They have two daughters-Akira and Shakya. Farhan and Hrithik Roshan are good friends since childhood.

Career

Farhan Akhtar started his career at age 17 as an apprentice with cinematographer-director Manmohan Singh for films like Lamhe (1991). Farhan, who served a television production house for three years after serving as an assistant to director Pankaj Parashar in the 1997 film Himalaya Putra (1997), has been performing various tasks.

He started his writing and directing career in Hindi cinema with the 2001 hit film - Dil Chahta Hai, produced by Excel Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which he founded in 1999 with Ritesh Sidwani. The film is the story of three friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna), who recently graduated from college and the film revolves around love and friendship. It was well received by critics, also commercial success, especially in the younger generation. The film received several nominations at various award ceremonies including Best Screenplay, Direction and Film. The film received that year's National Film Award for Best Hindi Film.

Akhtar then went on to produce his next project, Lakshya (2004), starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta, about the aimless youngsters who finally manage to set a goal for themselves. Although the film did not achieve box office success, but it was well received by many critics. The script of the film was written by his father Javed Akhtar. Meanwhile, he also wrote lyrics for Gurinder Chadha's 2004 Hollywood film Bride and Prejudice.

He then started a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan's 1978 film Don (Don – The Chase Begins Again), starring Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. The film released on 20 October 2006. Though the film was critically criticized, it was a box office success. It did a business of more than Rs 50 crore, as well as being the fifth most hit film of the year. In 2007, he produced the film Honeymoon Travels Private Limited, which performed well at the box office.

In 2007, he directed Positive, a 12-minute short film on HIV stigma and the need for family sympathy for the patient. It was shot in Mumbai and was part of a series of four short films from AIDS Awake directed by Meera Nair, Santosh Sivan, Vishal Bhardwaj and Farhan Akhtar. The series was the result of a joint initiative by Mirabai Films, voluntary organization Aavahana and the Bill & Milinda Gates Foundation. In this film, Boman Irani, Shabana Azmi and a new actor Arjun Mathur played roles.

In 2008, Akhtar made his acting debut with 'Rock On!!'. The film was well received by the critics, it was more than expected at the box office, especially in the metros. He appeared as the lead male actor in his sister Zoya's film Luck By Chance, which marked the first step in the direction of films. He will also appear in three upcoming films: Karthik Calling Karthik, Dhruv and Gulel.

Akhtar took the first step in singing with the movie 'Rock On!!' and sang most of the songs in the film. He was even supposed to sing in the film Blue, in which AR Rahman has given the music. However, he could not take time out due to being busy shooting for 'Karthik Calling Karthik'. He appeared on television shows as a judge in the first season of the dance reality show Nach Baliye (2005) and as a judge on Femina Miss India (in 2002). He also appeared on NDTV Imagine as a TV show host for his show Oye!, It Is Friday.