After his birth, his parents moved to Lucknow and later Aligarh. Young Javed Akhtar lost his mother at a young age and his father frequently moved back and forth between Lucknow and Bombay, so he and his brother spent most of their time with relatives.
Javed Saab arrived Mumbai on 4th October 1964. In his early years living in Mumbai. Occasionally, he used to work as an assistant. He got a job as a scriptwriter on Yakeen which was flopped. He then joined with his friend Salim Khan to develop the story for Adhikar.
Akhtar was married to Honey Irani, a script-writer for Hindi films, with whom he had two children Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, both film directors and actors. The father and son duo have worked together in films such as Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Rock On!! and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara along with Zoya. After Javed's divorce with Irani, he married actress Shabana Azmi, the daughter of another Urdu poet, Kaifi Azmi.
Salim-Javed were hired by GP Sippy's Sippy Films as resident screenwriters and produced the screenplays for successful films like Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Don. Javed Akhtar was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1999 and received the Padma Bhushan in 2007.
Javed Saab won the Filmfare Award fourteen times, seven times for Best Script writing and seven times for Best Lyrics for "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha" in 1942-A Love Story, "Ghar Se Nikalte Hi" for Papa Kahte Hain, "Sandese Aate Hain" for Border, "Panchhi Nadiyan Pawan Ke Jhonke" forRefugee, "Radha Kaise Na Jale" for Lagaan, "Kal Ho Na Ho" for Kal Ho Na Ho , "Tere Liye" for Veer-Zaara and "Jashn-e-Bahara" for Jodhaa Akbar.
Akhtar has won the National Award five times. In 1996 he won for Best Lyricist for the film Saaz and in 1997 he won the National Award for Border. He again won the National Award in 1998 for Godmother. In 2000 he again won the National Award for the song "Panchhi Nadiyan Pawan Ke Jonke..." from the film Refugee and in 2001 for "Radha Kaise Na Jale" from Lagaan.
