Javed Akhtar (born 17 January 1945) is an Indian political activist, poet, lyricist, and screenwriter, originally from Gwalior area. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri (1999), Padma Bhushan (2007),[1] the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as five National Film Awards. In the early part of his career, he was a screenplay writer, creating movies like Deewar, Janzeer, and Sholay. Later he left screenplay writing and became a lyricist.