Film director, screenwriter, and a fierce fighter for the cause of gender equality — Zoya Akhtar turns 48 today. A winner of several Filmfare Awards for Best Director, she has also won our hearts with her beautiful words and movies.
Today, let’s look at 5 dialogues from Zoya Akhtar’s movies that made us teary-eyed.
Talaash (2012): Jin logo ke bina hum jee nahi sakte, wo hee humse cheen liye jaate hai.
In a movie about a man who seeks truth in a case and ends up learning so much more, Zoya Akhtar delivered a bitter truth to her audience always when she expressed how we often lose those who we can’t live without.
Gully Boy (2019): Koi dusra mere ko batayega main kaun hoon?
In a tense scene between a father and his courageous son, Ranveer Singh subtly tells us what we may have known all along. No one else should be able to dictate who you are and what you’re worth. That power and privilege can and should solely lie with you and within you. In a one-liner dialogue, Zoya Akhtar poignantly tells us, “Why should someone else tell you who you are?” For this powerful advocation for self-expression, Gully Boy was nominated for an Oscar for Best International Feature Film in 2019.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara (2011): Insaan ko dibbe mein sirf tab rehna chaiye jab woh mar chuka ho.
You will die. It seems like a harsh yet obvious reminder and yet we seem to forget it so often. We surround ourselves within the four walls of fears, insecurities, and hesitations. We all need someone like Laila, or rather, Zoya Akhtar, to remind us that the only time one should be in a box is when they’re dead.
Lakshya (2004): Dil ke andar kisne dekha hai, main toh vo sununga jo aap keh rahe hai aur vo dekhunga jo aapne kiya.
We’ve all heard those well-meaning and not so well-meaning beings around us who tell us they want what’s best for us in their hearts. Zoya Akhtar’s shattering dialogue reminds us how we can never truly know what’s in a person’s heart. Actions speak louder than words. We can only hear what a person tells us and see what a person shows us.
Dil Dhadakne Do (2015): Tumne Aisha ko allow kiya? Aur usse tumhaari permission ki kya zaroorat hai?
One question is all it took to answer why empowering women in this day and age is so necessary. Gender Inequality will exist as long as women are only ‘allowed’ to do what is a presumed phase of life for the opposite gender. Allowing someone to do something implies you have authority over them. Zoya Akhtar’s eye-opening dialogue is a fitting reminder of the current fight for gender equality.
We wish this beautiful wordsmith and talented director a very happy birthday!
(Contributed by Sakshi Prabhu)