Farhan Akhtar – Biography & Life Story of Indian Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Playback Singer, Producer & Television Host
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer & television host. He works in Hindi films.
He has born to a screentwriter couple & grew up under the influence of the Indian film industry. In 1999, he established his production company ‘Excel Entertainment’ along with Ritesh Sidhwani.
In 2001, he made his directional debut by the movie Dil Chahta Hai. The movie received critical acclaim for portraying modern youth.
It also won the National Award for the Best Film. Later, he directed Lakshya in 2004, Don in 2006 & Positive in 2007.
In 2008, he made his acting debut with the movie Rock On!! For that movie he won a second National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi as producer.
In 2011, he wrote the dialogues & produced Zindgi Na Milegi Dobara. He won Best Supporting Actor award for that. In the same year later, he directed a sequel to Don named Don 2. Don 2 remains the highest-grossing film till the date.
Farhan Akhtar also played Milkha Sing in the biopic of Milkha sing named Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He earned the Filmfare award for Best Actor in it.
Later in 2015, he starred in Dil Dhadakne Do. He also acted in Wazir, Lucknow Central, The Sky is Pink & Toofaan.
Farhan Akhtar Early & Personal Life:
Farhan Akhtar was born on 9th January 1974 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He was born as a second child of a screenwriter couple Javed Akhtar & Honey Irani.
He has an elder sister named Zoya Akhtar. Later his parents divorced & his father married to the well-known actress Shabana Azmi.
His mother Honey Irani raised her children at the family home in Bandra bandstand. He studied at Maneckji Cooper school Mumbai & then pursued a law degree from HR college Mumbai.
His father was a Muslim by birth & socialist & artist by belief. His mother was Irani Zoroastrian by birth. She was content to let her children grow up with no religion.
As of Farhan Akhtar he is an atheist. He is the nephew of the child actress Daisy Irani and the first cousin of choreographer Farah Khan and Sajid Khan.
In 2000, he married Adhuna Bhabani. The couple have two daughters named Shakya & Akira. They announced separation after 16 years of marriage in 2016.
They got divorce in 2017. Her wife Bhabani is having custody of their children. Later, he started dating VJ Shibani Dandekar in 2018. They got married in a non-religious ceremony at his Khandala farmhouse on 19th February 2022.
Career of Farhan Akhtar:
Farhan Akhtar worked as an apprentice in film distribution & direction for Lamhe in 1991. At that time, he was only 17 years old.
Later, before launching as distributor & writer, he moved to an advertisement production house named ‘Script Shop’.
In 2001, he made his writing & directional debut with Dil Chahta Hai. It was a turning point in his career.
The film won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for 2002. During the same year he along with sister Zoya assisted his father in writing the English lyrics of a song in film Lagaan.
In 2004, he did a movie Lakshya, in that movie he acted with Hritik Roshan & Preity Zinta. In the same year, he wrote the English lyrics of Bride and Prejudice along with sister Zoya.
In 2006, Farhan Akhtar directed, produced and wrote the screenplay of Don starring Shah Rukh Khan. In 2007, he produced the film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.
In the same year, he directed Positive, a film with Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi. It was a short film running for 12 minutes.
In 2011, his first project was the drama thriller Game. Abhishek Bachchan, Kangana Ranaut, Boman Irani and Jimmy Shergill were the lead actors in it.
Farhan Akhtar wrote the script & produced it. It had a poor opening on box office. Later in the same year, he wrote, produced & directed Don 2, it was the sequel of his Don from 2006.
It was a major success in India. He also produced & wrote the script of the the thriller Talaash: The Answer Lies Within.
It was followed by Fukrey, Bangistan, Baar Baar Dekho, Raees & Fukrey Returns during 2013 to 2017.
In 2008, Farhan Akhtar made his solo acting & singing debut in a musical film Rock On!! It was directed by Abhishek Kapoor.
Along with Akhtar Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal & Purab Kohli acted in it. Farhan Akhtar earned several accolades for his debut performance.
In addition, the film won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. However, it did not create an impact at the box office and turned out to be an “average” grosser. Akhtar acted in, and produced his sister Zoya’s directorial and written debut Luck By Chance.
Later, Farhan Akhtar acted in a film titled The Fakir of Venice. It was released theatrically in India on 8 February 2019.
In 2010, Farhan Akhtar produced his next movie Kartik Calling Kartik. He played the lead role in it named Kartik alongside Deepika Padukone.
It received mixed reviews. Akhtar produced and appeared as one of the three leads in Zoya Akhtar’s film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara along with Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin.
He was the script writer of that movie. His father Javed Akhtar wrote a poetry for the movie. It made ₹1.53 billion (equivalent to ₹2.7 billion or US$34 million in 2020) worldwide and was declared a commercial success at the box office.
The movie won two National Awards, the Best Choreography and the Best Audiography. He acted as athlete Milkha Singh in his biopic named Bhag Milkha Bhag.
He won the Best Actor Award for it. The film claimed the National award for ‘Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment.’.
In 2014, he acted in Shaadi Ke Side Effects with Vidya Balan. It was a sequel of Pyaar Ke Side Effects from 2006. Later the next year, he featured in Dil Dhadakne Do.
In 2016, he played the lead role in Wazir. In 2017, He essayed the role of a Dawood Ibrahim-alike mafia don Maqsood in Daddy in 2017 with Arjun Rampal.
The film was about a prison escape drama planned by a group of prisoners who also form a music band and it was inspired by a real incident.
In 2019, his next release was Sky Is Pink with Priyanka Chopra, Zaira Wasim & Rohit Saraf. It was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received a 15-minute standing ovation from the audience at the Roy Thomson Hall.
Unfortunately, it failed to do well commercially. In 2002, he appeared as one of the nine judges in the beauty padgeant Femina Miss India.
He was also the judge of Nach Baliye season 1 in 2005. In the same year, he hosted a TV show on NDTV Imagine, called Oye! It’s Friday!
He endorsed many brands like Pureit, Chivas Regal, Britannia Nutri Choice Biscuits, IndusInd Bank, Dulux Paint, Titan Industries and Crocin+2. Farhan Akhtar also launched social media campaign Men Against Rape and Discrimination, or MARD.
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