Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar sheds light on the power of art and society to shape ideas.
The 79-year-old marked his presence at an event by Art Design Culture Collective along with his wife Shabana Azmi.
Reflecting his collective stance on art, Am I? The songwriter, said: “I think art is like an anthem, like a flag, like a slogan. It has to start with society and it eventually becomes a two-way traffic.”
He added that the sense of discontent, desire and ambition in society must be deeply rooted before it can express itself through various forms of artistic expression.
He kept giving examples of great slogans like ‘Inqlab Zindabad’.
“But when you have that slogan, it becomes popular because people have a term to express all their feelings.”
He added that art has the power to transform the intangible into something tangible, and in turn, it gives back to society.
Shabana also joined him and spoke about the challenges facing the world of theater in today’s digital age.
For the unknown, Javed Akhtar is the father of renowned filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar.