Screenwriter Javed Akhtar could have utilised his time in a much more constructive way if he wasn’t consumed by something that dominated his life at one point: Alcohol. The veteran writer has opened up about his battle with the bottle, introspecting how several of his decisions and most of his major mistakes were committed when he was inebriated.

Appearing on episode three of Chill Sesh, Javed Akhtar spoke about the time he was an alcoholic and advised young people in the crowd to give up the bottle because it leads to no good.

“I have wasted a lot of time drinking. I was a drunkard. I left drinking ion July 31, 1991.  I feel I have wasted a grand total of at least 10 years just drinking. I could have used that time for a much positive and constructive purpose. I will advise young people, if you drink, stop it, because when I look at my life, I have not made any major mistake in my life without drinking,” he added.

The 79-year-old writer, who was previously married to actor-screenwriter Honey Irani, said his marriage with her could have been “saved” had it not been alcohol addiction which came in the way. Akhtar got married to Irani in 1972 and got divorced in 1985.

“I regret the failure of my first marriage. It could have been saved. But it was my irresponsible attitude, my drinking… When you are drunk, you take impulsive decisions, you start fighting about certain things which are not such big issues. Ye sab galtiyaan toh hui hai mujhse,” he added.

In an earlier interview with Be A Man, Yaar, Javed Akhtar had revealed how he would become a “devil” after getting drunk and added that perhaps there were bottled up emotions, including anger and bitterness. “That is why after drinking I would become quite offensive, which I a otherwise not, nor ever was. This would never happen in my sober moments. But peekey koi ek dusra devil nikal aata tha (when I was drunk, a devil would emerge from within me).

Akhtar’s second wife, actor Shabana Azmi had also previously opened up about his alcoholism in a chat with Arbaaz Khan for The Invincibles and added that he knew that if he goes on with his addiction, he “won’t live for long.”

Speaking about the day when Javed announced that he would give up drinking, Shabana said, “We were in a flat in London. He was stinking of alcohol, and I said ‘oh my god, this is going to be one of those trips. Very quietly he told me ‘Make me some breakfast’. He had breakfast and after that he told me, ‘I am not going to drink anymore.’”

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