Honey Irani is an Indian actress and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, who works in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. She started her career as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

with roles in films such as Mahesh Kaul’s Pyar ki Pyas. She was probably four to five years old when the shooting of the movies ''

Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan ''Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film directed and produced by Devendra Goel. The film stars Rajendra Kumar as the protagonist Dr Anand and Meena Kumari, Honey Irani and Madan Puri in pivotal roles. The film wa ...

'' and ''Bombay Ka Chor'' started.

Background and personal life

Irani is the youngest of five siblings, the others being Menaka, Bunny, Sarosh, and

Daisy Irani Daisy Irani is an Indian television actress, director and producer from Singapore. Biography She was born to Gujarati film actress Padmarani and stage director Namdar Irani in Bombay, India. She is best known for appearing in the role of Daisy ...

. Irani's oldest sister, Menaka, is married to the stunt film-maker Kamran Khan. Her other sister Daisy, who was also a famous child-star like herself, was married (till his death) to screenwriter K.K. Shukla, and is the mother of three children. Irani met the script-writer and poet

Javed Akhtar Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian poet, lyricist, screenwriter and political activist. Known for his work in Hindi cinema, he has won five National Film Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 200 ...

on the sets of

Seeta Aur Geeta ''Seeta aur Geeta'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film, written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) and directed by Ramesh Sippy. It stars Hema Malini, Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in leading roles, and features mus ...

. They were married on 21 March 1972. She is the mother of film-makers Zoya Akther and Farhan Akther. Her career as a child star had already ended and his career as a script-writer had not yet properly begun. They had no place to live, and were given a room in the house of Irani's older married sister Menaka. Their daughter

Zoya Akhtar Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becomin ...

was born in 1972 and their son

Farhan Akhtar Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influen ...

in the 1974. Irani became a devoted home-maker, but the marriage ended in divorce after her husband became involved with the actress

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

in the mid-1970s. The couple separated in 1978 and divorced in 1985. While Akhtar married Shabana Azmi in 1984, Irani devoted herself to the care of her two young children, who were six years and four years old respectively in 1978. She even started doing embroidery on sarees as a way of earning money to support her children. Eventually, she managed to make a second career for herself as a writer of film scripts. Both of Irani's children (son

and daughter

) grew up to be successful filmmakers in the Hindi film industry."Honey Irani – Sweet Taste of Success"
, india-today.com; accessed 1 December 2014.

Career

Honey Irani began her

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

career as a

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

with roles in films such as ''

'' and ''Bombay Ka Chor''. She has acted in over 72 films. After her divorce, she started doing embroidery on sarees to support her family. Though she had been writing short stories all this while, she never shared them. She narrated the story idea of '' Aaina'' (1993) to Pam Chopra, wife of Yash Chopra for a TV series, but he developed it into a film. Yash Chopra had also previously asked her to develop a story idea, which went on to become her debut as a screenwriter, ''

Lamhe ''Lamhe'' (lit. ''Moments'') is a 1991 Indian musical romantic drama film directed by Yash Chopra and written by Honey Irani and Rahi Masoom Raza. The film stars Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in lead roles, along with Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher ...

'' (1991), starring

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female ...

. The film saw mediocre success, but she won the

Filmfare Award for Best Story The Filmfare Award for Best Story is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a writer who wrote a film's story. List of winners 1950s * 1955 Mukhram Sharma – '' Aulad'' * 1956 Rajinder Singh ...

for the film and it paved her way for a successful career as screenwriter. Both '' Aaina'' and ''

'' strengthen her bond with Yash Chopra who gave her his next film ''

Darr ''Darr: A Violent Love Story'' ( ''Fear'') is a 1993 Indian romantic psychological thriller film directed and produced by Yash Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films. The film stars Juhi Chawla, Sunny Deol and Shah Rukh Khan with Anupam Kh ...

'' (1993). However she parted ways with Yash Chopra after she was not given credit for her work on ''

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (), also known by the initialism ''DDLJ'', is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. Released on ...

''. She won the award again for ''

Kya Kehna ''Kya Kehna'' ( en, So well said) is a 2000 Indian Hindi romantic drama film. Written by Honey Irani, it was directed by Kundan Shah and released on 19 May 2000 at a budget of . ''Kya Kehna'' dealt with the taboo issue of pre-marital pregnancy a ...

'' in 2002, besides winning

Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Superlatives ;Most Awards *Salim–Javed – 3 *Basu Chatterjee – 3 *Rajkumar Hirani – 3 *Mani Ratnam – 2 *V ...

with Ravi Kapoor for the blockbuster '' Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'' in 2001.

Awards

Partial filmography

Screenwriter

* ''

Krrish 3 ''Krrish 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language superhero film written, produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan, who wrote the screenplay with Honey Irani and Robin Bhatt. It is the third film in the ''Krrish'' series, following '' Koi... Mil Gaya ...

'' (2013) * ''

Har Pal ''Har Pal'' ( en, Every Moment) is an unreleased Indian film directed by art cinema director Jahnu Barua, who previously directed the critically acclaimed ''Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara'' (2005). The film stars Preity Zinta, Shiney Ahuja and Isha ...

'' (2007) * ''

Krrish ''Krrish'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra while Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Manini Mishra, Archana Puran Singh and Sharat Saxena feature in ...

'' (2006), screenplay * '' Koi... Mil Gaya'' (2003), screenplay * '' Armaan'' (2003), screenplay and story * '' Albela'' (2001) * ''

'' (2000) * '' Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'' (2000), screenplay * '' Laawaris'' (1999), screenplay and story * ''

Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai ''Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai'' () is an Indian Hindi-language romance film released in 1998. Directed by Deepak Sareen and written by Honey Irani, the film stars Salman Khan as womaniser Sooraj and Twinkle Khanna as his first real love. Aditya ...

'' (1998), screenplay and story * ''

Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya ''Aur Pyar Ho Gaya'' (English: And Love Happened) is a 1997 Indian Hindi romance film directed by Rahul Rawail and starring Bobby Deol and Aishwarya Rai. This film marked the Hindi debut for Aishwarya Rai. The film's music was composed by the c ...

'' (1997), story * '' Suhaag'' (1994), screenplay * ''

'' (1993), screenplay and story * '' Aaina'' (1993), screenplay and story (also assistant dialogue writer) * ''

Parampara (1993 film) ''Parampara'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language action romantic drama film starring Sunil Dutt, Vinod Khanna, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Ashwini Bhave, Ramya Krishna, Raveena Tandon, Neelam Kothari and Anupam Kher. The film is produced by Fi ...

'', screenplay and story * ''

'' (1991), screenplay and story * ''

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (), also known by the initialism ''DDLJ'', is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. Released on ...

Actor

* ''

'' (1972), as Sheila * ''

Amar Prem ''Amar Prem'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi romantic drama film directed by Shakti Samanta. It is a remake of the Bengali film '' Nishi Padma'' (1970), directed by Arabinda Mukherjee, who wrote screenplay for both the films based on the Bengali s ...

'' (1971) * ''

Kati Patang ''Kati Patang'' () is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. It was a box office success. The film stars Asha Parekh as a woman pretending to be a widow, and her ensuing trials and tribulations ...

'' (1970) as Manorama ("Munni") * ''Chandi Ki Deewar'' (1964) * ''Soorat Aur Seerat'' (1962) * '' Amar Rahe Yeh Pyar'' (1961) * ''

'' (1959) * ''

Qaidi No. 911 ''Qaidi No. 911'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language crime film produced and directed by Aspi Irani, and written by C. J. Pavri. The film stars Sheikh Mukhtar, Nanda (actress), Nanda and Mehmood (actor), Mehmood. It focuses on a man who is arrest ...

'' (1959) * ''Pyar ki Pyas'' (1961) as Geeta. * ''Zameen Ke Taare'' (1960). * '' Masoom'' (1960).

Director

* '' Armaan'' (2003)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irani, Honey Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Actresses in Hindi cinema Filmfare Awards winners Indian women screenwriters 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Living people 20th-century Indian actresses Screenwriters from Mumbai Actresses from Mumbai Women writers from Maharashtra Hindi screenwriters Irani people