Poet-lyricist-scriptwriter Javed Akhtar turned 68 on Thursday.

Hailing from a family of freedom fighters, Javed Akhtar is the great great grandson of Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, a notable name in the Indian freedom struggle and one of the main figures of India's first war of independence in 1857.

Born to Bollywood film songwriter and Urdu poet Jan Nisar Akhtar, and singer-teacher-writer Safia Akhtar, Javed was initially named as 'Jadoo' by his father.

Javed started his career as a scriptwriter for 'Yakeen' which flopped and then joined his friend Salim Khan to develop the story for 'Adhikar'.

Salim-Javed were hired by G.P. Sippy's Sippy Films as resident screenwriters and produced the screenplays for successful films like 'Andaz', 'Seeta Aur Geeta', 'Sholay' and 'Don'.

Initially Javed used to write his scripts in Urdu, which were then written out in Hindi by his assistant

Besides films, he had also donned the hat of a judge alongside Anu Malik, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre on India's singer hunt named Indian Idol 4.

He is on the advisory board of the Asian Academy of Film & Television as well.

The multi-talented man is the father of actor-director Farhan Akhtar and director Zoya Akhtar.

The father-and-son duo have worked together in films such as 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Lakshya' and 'Rock On!!'. They have also made 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and 'Talaash' with Zoya.

Javed was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

He has won the Filmfare Award 14 times, seven times for best script, and eight times for best lyrics.

He is also the recipient of the National Award five times.

He is married to actress Shabana Azmi.

Javed has five Hindi films coming up in line called 'Vishwaroop, 'Chamki Chameli', 'Gulel', 'The White Land' and 'Life Goes On.'

"Happy birthday Javed Akhtar," his wife Shabana Azmi wished him on Twitter.