Date of Birth:

9 January 1974, Mumbai, India

Height:

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography:

Writer Javed Akhtar's and Honey Irani's son 'Farhan Akhtar' is an extremely talented and creative and young director and has made a place for himself in very little time.

He entered Bollywood at the age of 17, assisting directors and cinematographers. He dropped out of college and did various jobs like working for a TV production house and setting up his own production house, Excel Entertainment with childhood friend Ritesh Sidhwani.

Farhan made his directorial debut in Hindi cinema with the 2001 hit, Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which starred Aamir Khan. It was a big success, especially popular among the younger generation. Many rate it as one of the greatest movies ever made in Bollywood. The movie earned quite a few nominations for different awards, and won the Filmfare best screenplay award. His next project was Lakshya (2004) with Hrithik Roshan, which was released in 2004. Though the movie did not do as well at the box office, it won him much critical acclaim. The script of the movie was written by his father Javed Akhtar.

He then directed a remake of the 1978 cult classic Amitabh Bachchan film, Don (1978) called Don (2006/I) which starred Shahrukh Khan in the title role. The film released on 20 October 2006 and was a huge success at the box office. He produced the film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007) which also did well at the box office.

Then came Rock On!! (2008), in which he starred and produced. The film was a phenomenon and became an instant cult film just like Dil Chahta Hai (2001). And Farhan has a lot to do with its success. He produced it, wrote the dialogues for it, acted in it and learnt how to sing the super hit songs. His husky voice seems perfect for Indian rock music. The performance of Farhan in the movie was a revelation. And a method actor of his own unique style was born. Farhan has won applauds from his viewers for his acting debut and all loved the sound of his voice on songs like 'Rock On' and 'Tum Ho Toh'. As part of promotions for _Rock On_, Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Luke Kenny and Purab Kohli (the members of the Rock On!! (2008) cast and the fictitious band 'Magik' depicted in the movie) has toured the country making crowds groove to their rocking and magical music.

He is currently (2008-'09) hosting _Oye! It's Friday! (2008)_ which is a celeb talk show with a tinge of comedy.

On the personal front, Farhan is married to Adhuna Bhabani Akhtar and they have two daughters: Shakya and Akira. They live in Bandra Bandstand, Mumbai. He is good friends with the Rock On!! (2008) cast and Shahrukh Khan.

Recently another film got released featuring Farhan as an actor. It is his sister Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut Luck by Chance (2009) in which he plays a struggling actor. The film did fairly good at the box office, but did not turn out to be a superhit, although it received some great remarks in its various reviews.

He will soon be seen as an actor once again in Vijay Lalwani's thriller Karthik Calling Karthik (2010) co-starring with the actress Deepika Padukone. After that he will be returning to direction with Don 2 (2011) which he is aiming to be a far more bigger and better actioner with a huge budget than its predecessor Don (2006/I) and is set to release in the later half of the year 2010.

Trade Mark:

Stunning visuals
Wide angle tracking shots.
Works frequently with the producer and a friend in personal life Ritesh Sidhwani. Till now, as of 2009, he has produced all the films directed by Farhan
Frequently works with the music director trio of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa credited as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Till 2009 they have composed music in all the films that Farhan has directed (Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Lakshya (2004), Don (2006/I)) and starred in (Rock On!! (2008) and Luck by Chance (2009))
Most of his movies feature a protagonist who is a coming of age person, who is very naive and immature and through the course of the film has a drastic transformation mentally turning out to become a very mature and responsible character (e.g. Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Lakshya (2004) and Rock On!! (2008))
Frequently casts the actor Boman Irani in his produced and directed films (e.g. Lakshya (2004), Don (2006/I), Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), Positive (2007/II) and cameo in Luck by Chance (2009))
In all his movies he only uses the song lyrics written by his father Javed Akhtar.
His movies frequently have some sequences shot in Goa, India. Until 2009, almost every movie that he has directed and/or produced has had some parts shot there e.g. - Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Don (2006/I), Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), Rock On!! (2008), Luck by Chance (2009).
His every movie features one duet song, through the lyrics of which the lead characters are conversing or debating over something (e.g. the song 'Jaane Kyun' in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), 'Agar Main Kahoon' in Lakshya (2004) and 'Aaj ki Raat' in Don (2006/I))
His method acting.
His unique husky voice in his acting as well as singing

Spouse:

Adhuna Bhabani Akhtar (2000 - present) 2 children

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