The launch event of Jadunama, the book written on celebrated writer, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar’s journey, was indeed a memorable evening. If you thought, you could’ve guessed so, given that two men of words — Gulzar and Javed Akhtar — were coming together, you would’ve felt by the end of the event that you were wrong. For, it was way beyond anything anyone could’ve expected. It was fun, it was intense, it was splendid, it was remarkable, it was emotional, it was philosophical… and it was much more than that!
Shabana Azmi and Farhan Akhtar read excerpts from the book, authored by Arvind Mandloi, to start the evening today (9th January). Writer Mandloi and translator Dr. Rakshanda Jalil were next interviewed by Atika Farooqui. It was then Javed Akhtar’s turn to take centrestage. He narrated interesting anecdotes from his chequered life and often had the select gathering in splits. Note for instance how, before taking his seat on the dais, Akhtar thanked Gulzar for agreeing to release the book formally, thus: “Eid ka chand bhi saal mein ek baar dikhta hee hai, magar yeh wise Eid ke chand hain jo kabuki-kabhi poore saal mein nahin dikhte hain.” (“The holy Eid moon may not be visible daily but it can be sighted once a year for sure; however, Gulzar saab, unlike the Eid moon, may not be visible even once a year.”) Known for his sense of humour, Javed used the platform to make a dig at the umpteen self-styled censors who want to censor even duly certified films, when he said that there is such a surfeit of censors nowadays.
It was sheer magic on stage once Gulzar joined. The strong bond of brotherhood and the deep affection which both the veteran and brilliant writers share was evident in every word the two spoke. In reply to Javed’s earlier comment that he used to be enamoured of Gulzar whom he used to recognise by his two-day stubble, whenever he used to spot him travelling in his Fiat car while he (Javed) was still struggling in the film industry soon after passing out from college, Gulzar said tongue-in-cheek, “Thank you for underlining that I am so much older than you, but the fact is that while you had passed out from college, I had quit because I failed in college!”
Gulzar said, it wasn’t rare for him to be mistaken by people as Javed Akhtar and vice versa. In fact, Gulzar read out a poem, beautifully written, to express his anguish when a girl, frank enough to admit that she was in fear of forgetting her own name after meeting with him, addressed him as Javed Akhtar. He then handed over the microphone to Javed Akhtar to narrate some of his instances of mistaken identity. Akhtar recalled an incident at the airport when he was with wife Shabana Azmi and was mistaken for Gulzar. The Gulzar fan asked Javed (taking him to be Gulzar) what had brought him to the airport. Playing along, Javed had replied, “I’ve come to fetch Javed Akhtar.” Upon which the fan, “appearing to be shocked that a man of Gulzar’s stature should come to receive Javed Akhtar”, actually asked, ‘But why would you come to receive Javed Akhtar?’ “With a straight face,” said Javed, “I replied that whenever Javed comes to the airport, I am here.”
If Javed Akhtar made it clear at the book launch that he absolutely admired Gulzar’s writing, the latter also showered praises galore on Javed Akhtar. He said, he admired Javed Akhtar’s elephantine memory. Recalling that he had once telephoned Javed to know something about a book he had earlier written and couldn’t find his copy at home, he was full of admiration for Akhtar’s reply. “Javed asked me, what in the book did I want to know?” Gulzar revealed, adding, “And then he said, ‘I can narrate the entire book right now.'”
Gulzar also said, he had never seen Javed Akhtar angry. “He may not agree with your view point, he may be agitated or pained but he is never angry,” remarked Gulzar, adding, “And even when he is agitated, he will add a humorous point to support his theory or thought process so that you can never feel, he is fighting with you. That’s such a rare and admirable quality.”
The book was officially launched after the phenomenal reading of excerpts, and healthy interaction between Javed Akhtar and Gulzar. The show was beautifully compered by Atika Farooqui in her inimitable style. Among the impressive guests were Subhash Ghai, Honey Irani, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi, Rumy Jafri, Tabu, Urmila Matondkar, Dia Mirza, Ramesh Talwar, Farah Khan, Divya Dutta, Ila Arun, Raju Singh, Satish Kaushik, Vinay Shukla, Nandita Das, Ashutosh Gowariker and Vijay Akela.
If one were to ask me, a trade analyst, to describe the book launch event in one word, I’d say, “Blockbuster.” Make that all caps — BLOCKBUSTER!!