Ahead of their wedding, Bombay Times spoke to Farhan Akhtar’s mother, actress and screenwriter Honey Irani who said, “I had tested COVID positive and I was under isolation and I am fine now. I am looking forward to participate on their big day.”
Talking about her daughter-in-law, Irani says, “Shibani is a lovely child. She is so beautiful and is extremely respectful towards others. She mixes with the family very well. I meet Shibani every second day. They (Farhan and Shibani) just live next door. We also went on a holiday to Maldives together. Shibani and I talk on the phone almost every day. We also keep messaging each other. She’s just too sweet. I am even fond of her parents and her sisters who are also cultured. It was really nice meeting all of them.”
Farhan apparently broke the news about their decision to get married to his mother by inviting her for dinner hosted by the duo. Sharing more about the kind of rapport she shares with Shibani, and how both Farhan and his partner relish her food, she said, “There are times where they both call me and say, ‘Mom we are coming home kuch achcha banake rakhna. Shibani likes to eat the guacamole I make. She also enjoys eating my nawabi keema and all the other mutton dishes I make and of course the dhansak. She is quite a foodie! It’s good for them as both of them love food. Both of them are on diet all the time, but Sunday is the day when they want to treat themselves,” she says.
Ask Irani if she got a taste of Shibani’s culinary skills and she says, “Well, she doesn’t cook. I must say that she is learning to cook, she keeps trying and I know she will succeed someday. But honestly speaking she doesn’t need to cook. We are not in times where we ask things like, ‘Kya ladki ko khaana banane aata hai?”
As a senior member of the family, did Irani give any inputs to the couple with regards to the wedding prep and she says, “I told them that the festivities will be incomplete without kulfi and jalebi on the menu. I just don’t care about the rest (laughs!). The food has to be good and it can’t go wrong. That is the only thing everybody has been contemplating on right from the word go. It was never about ladki kya pehnegi ya ladka kya pehnega…khaana kya banega has always been very important.”
Earlier, Farhan’s father, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar had told BT that the venue for the wedding, which would be a close-knit affair, will be his family home in Khandala. Talking about Farhan and Shibani, who have reportedly been in a relationship for over three years, senior Akhtar had said, “Shibani is a very nice girl. All of us like her very much. The most important thing is that she and Farhan get along very well, which is great.”
