On Thursday, the “master of all trades”, Farhan Akhtar, turned 46 years old, swirling his fans and fam into a whirlwind of excitement.
Son of accomplished lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar and brother of director Zoya Akhtar, whose last project “Gully Boy” was nominated for an Oscar, Farhan is nothing less than Bollywood’s very own royalty.
Testifying to his impeccable sense of humour, Farhan replied to Zoya on Instagram, “Thanks Zo. Can you please not use images from my photo shoot last year? I’m a bit taller since then. Thanks. Love you".
On 18 December, Farhan asked Mumbai residents to join a protest rally against the Indian government’s controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from three neighbouring countries, while the NRC allegedly requires Indians to prove their domicile with paperwork.
Farhan’s tweet was chased by a response from a senior police officer, who highlighted that by triggering people to demonstrate, the actor himself had broken the law.
In May 2019, Farhan openly dissed current Member of Parliament Pragya Thakur and urged Indian citizens to not to vote for her. The B-town prince posted quite a sarcastic comment on Thakur on Twitter.
Regardless of Farhan’s “more-often-than-not” opinions, Bollywood loves him for his work and contributions to Indian cinema.
Farhan began his career in Bollywood in 2001 and his directorial debut “Dil Chahta Hai” (The Heart Wants) went down as an iconic turning point in the world of Indian movies.
Later in 2009, Farhan appeared on the silver screen for the first time in a movie titled “Rock On” based on the coming together of a broken band. The songs from the “Rock On” album, many of which were written and sung by Farhan himself were pure gold to music fans.
In his career, spanning nearly 20 years, Farhan has acted, written, sung, and directed multiple projects.
In 2017, Farhan and his wife Adhuna Bhabani split up after 16 years of marriage. The couple shares two daughters.
Farhan, who last appeared in “The Sky Is Pink” opposite actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas is currently dating model and video jockey Shibani Dandekar.
The actor will next be seen in a boxing-based movie titled "Toofan" (Storm) in October 2020.