New Delhi:
Javed Akhtar made a guest appearance on an NDTV special India through the eyes of its icons. The legendary poet-writer reflected on the concepts of fate and circumstance in conversation with Nikunj Garg and Marya Shakil. Is success a combination of hard work and fate? Are legends born from circumstances or hard work? Javed Akhtar believes that hard work and destiny are not against each other. However, they play a very different and significant role in achieving success. To reinforce his point, Javed Akhtar described life as a game of rummy.
“Life, sometimes I feel, is like a game of rummy. You may be a good player, but if you don’t get a good card, what do you do? There’s something about playing the game. The cards are like the circumstances. The circumstances are not your choice, the cards are not your choice. Then, how you arrange the circumstances or the cards depends on your skills turn… Because others throw cards that come to you… Guesses can be smarter, less smart.
The film veteran was asked about his words if he believes in fate. While his frequent collaborator Salim Khan believes in fate, Javed Akhtar emphatically said, “I don’t believe in fate at all.” Speaking to NDTV, he said, “Circumstances are not destiny, they are random. Destiny means that something is pre-ordained. No, nothing is pre-ordained. There are 7 billion people on this planet – everyone is making an effort. Every person who is alive , makes a strange pattern in society in a different direction than the other person. Sometimes you get favorable moments, but no one wants to push you back out of seven billion people.”
Does Javed Akhtar think of hard work, merit and honesty for success more than fate? Javed Akhtar’s wise take on the question was, “The cards keep changing, the players stay the same. Only one thing is constant in the game – not the cards, not the randoms. How well you play, how consistently you play… If you play to lose, you don’t get depressed, if you win, don’t don’t be arrogant, if you’re a good player, sooner or later you’ll win.”
Javed Akhtar ended his philosophical thoughts on fate on this note: “I don’t believe in fate. But I don’t have the delusion that I control everything.”
Angry young men is a documentary series released on Amazon Prime that charts the brilliant journey of legendary screenwriters Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Angry Young Men is produced by Salman Khan Films, Excel Media and Entertainment and Tiger Baby with Salman Khan along with Salma Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti and directed by Namrata Rao. The series received excellent reviews from both critics and the public.
