Screenwriter-lyricist Javed Akhtar has been having a long career, which started in the early 1970s. At a recent event, Aamir Khan asked the legendary writer how he has been staying relevant for all these years. In his response, Javed said that he started his journey with Ramesh Sippy on 1971's Andaz (as part of the Salim–Javed screenwriter duo) and worked with those senior to him on that project. "I was just 25, Ramesh was 26 at the time. And in my early years of work, whether it be him or me, every other person was older than us. Then, gradually, we had collaborators of the same age as us and later those who are younger than us and then those who are of our children and grandchildren's age," Javed said.
Getting to the heart of Aamir Khan's question on staying relevant, Javed Akhtar stated, "There is no cold-blooded formula to this. If you are not open to understand what each generation is saying, if you have the delusion that 'I know the best' or 'I know better than these kids' and you think that those who who are born after you are less intelligent than you, you will not be relevant."
The screenwriter went on to add, "We have to respect people. The fact is that we overestimate ourselves. This world is just theirs as it is ours. It is true that we know certain things that you do not, but at the same time, it is also true that you know some things that we do not. If we are open to learning from each other, we will remain relevant."
Javed's comments were met with big applause from the audience. Boman Irani, who shared the stage with the legendary screenwriter, also weighed in on his comments. Sharing the clip on Instagram, Boman wrote, "When you’re surrounded by people who have seen decades of change… you listen more carefully. On stage with Javed Akhtar saab, we spoke about what it means to stay relevant. And the answer was disarmingly simple: Stay open, keep learning, and don’t shy away from change…. I think that stayed with everyone in the room."
Javed is part of Aamir's upcoming production, Lahore 1947, as a lyricist.
