Javed Akhtar

“I am a secular rationalist Nationalist proud Indian who is inconvenient to both Hindu and Muslim communalists.”

“By the time I was 12, I had memorised hundreds of couplets. I could recite for hours poems written by others. I knew I could write a line in metre. But I never dared to do it till I was 33 years old.”

“If you are educated in English-medium schools, you get a better view of the world, develop more liberal values, have more gender sensitivity and become more forward looking. But you pay a price because you don't know your own language.”

“Very rarely does a mainstream film push the envelope. A film that's so-called mainstream and questions certain norms, certain notions of morality, and gets away with it opens doors. It means the common man, the majority of the people, have accepted it.”

“Generally, we tend to believe that royalty is only for mainstream Hindi commercial cinema music and maybe some popular ghazal singer or pop singer but we never think that classical music is played at so many places.”

“Words are not thoughts, just like bricks are not homes. But houses are made with bricks. If you have less bricks, you will make a small house. The more words you have, the clearer your thoughts, and the more clearly you can convey them.”

“For an average noun or an average verb, an average mind can quickly create reference. Where did they hear it? See it? What does it remind them of? What is its connection? When was it last used in conversation? What has been my experience with it? A host of memories appear when you hear a word you remember.”

“Indian cinema is changing not because of outside pressure but because of inside pressure. Society is changing. Obviously, ideas change because of globalization, because of the huge middle class that is mostly first generation.”

“I genuinely believe that people who are in their 20s and 30s understand certain things that I don't. I have a lot to offer to them and vice-versa.”

“Faiz Ahmed Faiz was like a leading star of the progressive writers who emerged in undivided India.”

“I know Priyanka Chopra personally. She is a cultured, decent and educated person and the fact remains that she is an Indian.”

“Working with anyone is easy as long as you realise that your collaborator has the understanding and experience even if he is younger to you.”

“Words are a strange thing. You once saw an animal and decided it's a 'cat.' But cat is a sound. This cat has nothing to do with the animal. But I have decided it's a cat. So a cat it is.”

“I believe that life offers you packages. It doesn't offer you good and bad, otherwise you will choose the good and you will leave the bad. It offers you packages and every package has some good and some bad.”

“Everything is now moving fast so communication has to be fast as well. But the tragedy is that we have attained this speed at the cost of depth of words.”

“You have to write some poetry, first of all, to decide if you can become a lyricist. I was born in a family of poets.”

“When clouds of pain loom in the skyWhen a shadow of sadness flickers byWhen a tear finds its way to the eyeWhen fear keeps the loneliness aliveI try and console my heartWhy is it that you cry? I askThis is only what life impartsThese deep silences withinHave been handed out to all by timeEveryone’s story has a little sorrowEveryone’s share has a little sunshineNo need for water in your eyesEvery moment can be a new lifeWhy do you let them pass you by?Oh heart, why is it that you cry?”