'Pi Ke Koi Devil Nikal Aata Tha': Javed Akhtar Talks About Alcoholism & Dealing With Anger Issues

Javed Akhtar is known for his best lyrics and poetry. He recently talked about how he has dealt in life with anger issues and alcoholism at the peak years of his career.

In conversation with We Are Yuvaa, he was asked about his anger issues and how he survived that phase of alcoholism. Defining it as one of the toughest moments of his life, he said that he had bottled up emotions of anger and bitterness that used to burst out after having alcohol.

Akhtar said, "Shayad the bottled up emotions, anger issues jiski aap baat karte hai, ya bitterness... that is why after drinking quite often I used to become offensive, which otherwise I'm not. Bikul nahi hu naa hi tha. Pi ke koi dusra devil nikal aata tha."

On quitting alcohol, he said, "The few good things I have done in life included quitting alcohol. July 31, 1991, was the last time I drank. I never took a sip of champagne after that. Not even during a celebratory cheer.”

"Bohot time waste hua usme. I wasted at least a decade of my life where I could have done so much, but because of all this, I wasted it. I could have done so much like learning a musical instrument, could have learnt another language like French or Persian. I had the time and the facility, but I wasted my time, which is not good. I have to learn a lot more,” he concluded.

Javed Akhtar has won two biggest India's highest civilian honours Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and has won five National Film Awards for his contribution to Indian cinema.