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Mumbai: Famous lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar is always in the news for his blunt opinions and logical talks. Recently, during a session of Jaipur Literature Festival, he openly expressed his views on language, family, secularism and the changing nature of cinema. In this dialogue, he answered the sharp questions of the audience and also shared experiences of his personal life.

During the session, Javed Akhtar, while reminiscing about his childhood, said that his mother and grandmother had a deep influence on his personality and thinking. During the conversation, he also expressed his clear opinion on languages ​​like Sanskrit and Urdu, which attracted a lot of attention of the audience.

Javed Akhtar’s blunt opinion on Sanskrit and Urdu

At the festival, when an audience asked which language is older between Urdu and Sanskrit, Javed Akhtar replied without any hesitation that what kind of question is this? Sanskrit is the second oldest living language in the world, whereas Urdu is not even a thousand years old. Urdu is actually like the younger sister of Sanskrit.

He further said that Tamil is considered to be the oldest living language in the world and is followed by Sanskrit. He also said that the importance of languages ​​should not be determined by their age, but by their cultural and social contribution.

Javed Akhtar gets emotional remembering his mother

Javed Akhtar also became emotional during the conversation. He told that his mother had died just the day after his eighth birthday. He said that it was my mother who made the language a fun experience for me. She used to teach me new words and their meanings. Even today, when I write a script, the things that come to my mind come to my mind which I learned from my mother or from her novels when I was six-seven years old.

Important mantra of life given to youth

On the question of a youth troubled by academic competition and comparison, Javed Akhtar gave an important lesson of life. He said that instead of fearing someone’s legacy or talent, one should respect it. Being afraid means that you are comparing yourself with others. Remember there will always be someone better than you and you will be better than someone else. Therefore your real competition should be with yourself.

Javed Akhtar spoke on secularism

Regarding secularism, Javed Akhtar described it as something to be learned not through any preaching but through practice. He said that this is not something that can be taught by giving lectures. It is a lifestyle that you learn by watching your elders. Sharing an incident from his childhood, he told how his grandmother had refused to give money to his grandfather for memorizing religious verses. Akhtar said that that was the end of my religious education. My grandmother was not educated, could not even write her name, but she had this deep understanding.

What did Javed Akhtar say on changing Bollywood?

Commenting on the changing times of cinema, Javed Akhtar said that today’s Bollywood has become quite different from his initial days. He said smilingly that today’s assistant directors call the hero by his name, this was unimaginable in our times.

Describing these changes as positive, he also said that cinema always reflects the values ​​and thinking of the society.