Son of the well known Urdu poet and film lyricist, Jan Nisar Akhtar, and Safia Akhtar, Javed Akhtar belongs to a lineage that can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet, Majaz, was his mother's brother and the work of Muzter Khairabadi, his grandfather, is looked upon as a milestone in Urdu poetry. Though an Urdu poet with collections of nazms and ghazals like Tarkash and ghazal albums like Sangam (in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed singer composer, late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) to his credit, Akhtar is best known for his celebrated partnership with Salim Khan, with whom he wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues of some of the biggest hits in Indian cinema during the 70s and 80s, like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Haathi Mere Saathi, Seeta Aur Geeta, Don and Trishul. Unfortunately, the duo separated and after their split, Akhtar continued to write scripts for films and some of them like Sagar, Mr. India, Betaab and Arjun have been tremendously successful. He started writing lyrics with Yash Chopra's Silsila and interestingly has more assignments as a lyricist than as a scriptwriter now. His songs have achieved unparalleled popularity and at present he is the most respected lyricist in India. Many of his songs, from films like Mr. India, Sagar, Tezaab, 1942 A Love Story, Sardari Begum, Border, Saaz, Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, Main Hoon Na, Swades, Laqshya, Veer Zaara, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Don, Om Shanti Om, Rock On and Wake Up Sid! have been chart toppers. For his writings, Akhtar has won umpteen Filmfare and Screen awards for both scripts and lyrics. He won the National Award for Best Lyricist three years in succession for Saaz, Border and Godmother. He has also been honoured with the Padmashree by the President of India. After Lagaan, he penned the lyrics for Swades, Jodhaa Akbar and hence What's Your Raashee? is his fourth film with Ashutosh.