Farhan Akhtar
Name: Farhan Akhtar
Birthday: 9th January, 1974
Zodiac: Capricorn
Marital Status: He is married to Adhuna Bhabani Akhtar since 2000. The couple is blessed to with two beautiful children Akira and Shakya.
Awards:
1) Best Feature Film in Hindi, Critics Award for Best Film, Best Screenplay (National Film Awards) – Dil Chahta Hai (2002)
2) Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Male Debut (National Film Awards) – Rock On (2008)
3) 53rd Filmfare Award for Best Singer – Rock On (2008)
4) 56th Filmfare Award for Best Film, Critics Award for Best Film, Best Dialogue – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)
Biography: Multi faceted is the only way to describe Farhan Akhtar. He is young and talented and masters a variety of fields from acting to music to direction. He is one of the most imaginative popular film makers of Bollywood. His debut film Dil Chahta Hai is still considered to be a path breaking venture for the lucidity of the script and how he directed it with so much of zeal which most film makers lack. He brought subtlety and class in mainstream cinema and rejected that pomp and show drives a film. Born to lyricist and scriptwriter Javed Akhtar and scriptwriter and director Honey Irani, Farhan has always lived in and around artistic scene for all his life. He has a sister Zoya who is director and a writer. Farhan’s step mother is the veteran, natural actress Shabana Azmi. Farhan grew up in Mumbai.
Farhan’s career in Bollywood began at the age of 17 when he assisted Yash Chopra, as cinematography apprentice for his film Lamhe (1991). He later worked as an assistant director for Himalaya Putra (1997). During his early days he widely worked in the advertising world before going for direction and scriptwriting.
Along with Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan started Excel Production which produced his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai starring Aamir Khan, Akshay Khanna, Priety Zinta and Saif Ali Khan. Besides redefining rules and contours of Y2K generation friendship, the film went on to work on the contours of the new millennium cinema in Bollywood. The film went on to become one of the most iconic films of the last decade!
His next film was Lakshya in 2004 starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Priety Zinta. The film managed to connect very efficiently with the youth as it told the tale of every young’s man journey to find what they are passionate about. Plot wise and technically the film was brilliant, however, it failed to show any magic at the box office.
In 2007, he directed a documentary named Positive which starred his step mother and actress Shabana Azmi with Boman Irani. The film attempted to educate people about AIDS awareness and how to lend a sensitive hand to victims. It was a part of the AIDS JaaGO campaign by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2008, Farhan was launched as a singer and actor in Rock On. The film starred Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Shahana Goswami and Prachi Desai. The performance was acclaimed to be flawless by most critics and the film was a huge box office success, also establishing Farhan as a successful singer winning him accolades.
In 2009, Farhan starred in his sister Zoya’s film Luck By Chance opposite konkona Sen Sharma. His acting was deemed to be fine and natural by critics however the film bombed badly at the box office. The same year ‘The Fakir of Venice’ was released. The film was immensely artistic and dealt with the frailties of human beings and their weaknesses.
His next film was released in 2010. Karthik Calling Karthik was a romantic thriller starring him and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. The film dealt with Schizophrenia and managed to do justice to the role. However the movie did not fare well at the box office.
In 2011, he was seen again in his sister Zoya’s film Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara with Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Katrina Kaif. The film received good reviews from critics and mostly Farhan reading his father Javed Akhtar’s poems was the most memorable part of that film. It almost encapsulated the essence of human existence.
His directorial ventures of 2006 and 2011, Don and Don 2, which are remake series of Amitabh Bachchan’s Don of the 70s, were both box office hits. The sequels were interesting with a newer storyline and greater chase drama. The films star Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra in lead roles and will continue to follow in years to come.
He is currently working Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhag Milkha Bhag and Pritish Nandi’s film Shaadi Ke Side Effects too. The latter will see him star with Vidya Balan for the first time in his career. Also the film is a sequel of Rahul Bose- Mallika Sherwat starring film Pyaar Ke Side Effects.
Farhan has featured on television as well as the judge of Star One reality show Nach Baliye and the host Oye!It’s Friday! The shows were both high TRP incurring ventures.