Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi were told 'either break-up or take the plunge,' recalls Annu Kapoor who got them married

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi fell in love while he was married to Honey Irani and had two children - Farhan and Zoya Akhtar. However, Honey and Akhtar were not separated because of that. They were living separately for a while and their divorce got finalised in 1985. Earlier in an interview, Javed Akhtar had blamed his alcoholism for his relationship with Honey being ruined. But while Javed and Shabana were in a relationship, marriage was a decision they were not able to take. It Annu Malik who played cupid and got them married. He also told them, that they should either break-up or get married. He said in an interview with TV9 Bharatvarsh, "You can say that I got them married. I was a friend of the family, and they’ve been very kind to me as well. I landed at their house, and considering the fork in the road that they were up against in their relationship, I advised them to make a decision. Either break up or take the plunge. Back then, the concept of live-in relationships wasn’t acceptable. Javed said, ‘Okay, fine, do what you have to’. I turned to Shabana, and asked, ‘Are you fine with it?’ And she said, ‘Dekh lo, Annu’. I considered her my sister, and I took that as a signal to proceed with the plan,” he said. Annu Kapoor took the late actor Kamran Rizvi with him, and went to the Bandra mosque to summon a ‘maulvi’. In the meanwhile, Boney Kapoor and other guests were called over. “The wedding took place after midnight." Javed and Shabana got married in December 1984. Even in an earlier interview with ANI, Annu said Javed was drunk the night he got married to Shabana. He recalled, "e was sitting there, drunk. She was sitting elsewhere, busy reading a book. I was there, and I told her, ‘Bibi, just go ahead with it, decide once and for all’. Javed was absolutely sloshed. She said, ‘How can I decide? He isn’t ready to make any kind of decision’. I went over to him and shook some sense into him, and he mumbled, ‘Yes, I’m ready’. So, together with their driver Michael, I rushed off to the Bandra mosque to bring a maulvi over. In the meantime, Shaukat ammi took out her red ‘joda’, and called up Anil Kapoor and Boney Kapoor, and everyone came over. They danced till 4 in the morning." Azmi had said earlier during a chat with Curly Tales about the difficult times that they faced in their relationship. “Oh it was a very, very, very tough period. I don’t think anybody knows what all the three people involved suffer. They think, ‘That’s it, kar liya.’ It is very difficult, very painful, particularly when there are children involved in it. You go through a very, very difficult period." The 'Arth' actress has often praised Honey for handling the situation so well.