As a child, Javed Akhtar wanted to be an actor

He is an accomplished writer, poet and lyricist, but Javed Akhtar says his childhood aspiration, just like every kid, was to become an actor.

He is an accomplished writer, poet and lyricist, but Javed Akhtar says his childhood aspiration, just like every kid, was to become an actor.

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“All children, when they watch a film, end up thinking everything that a hero does — action, singing, etc. So all of them want to become actors. Similarly, even I wanted to be an actor when I was a child,” Akhtar, 66, said on Thursday.

“It is only once you grow up that you realise a movie has a director, a screenplay writer, a lyricist, a composer, and other technicians too. But till a certain age, you believe the hero is everything,” he added.

Recounting one of his meetings with Dilip Kumar, Akhtar said, “Dilip saab was being given an award in Lucknow and I was called to say a few words. That day, I felt my circle was complete. I was in school and must have been six or seven years old when I had gone to watch Aan in a theatre in Hazratganj. It had Dilip saab. He was playing with a sword, riding a horse, singing songs... that was my introduction to cinema, my first understanding of a hero,” said the veteran writer.

“Years later at the award function, I stood on a stage to give a speech on the same actor in a hotel near the same theatre. It was nostalgic,” he added.