Scoop: Shabana Azmi plans a surprise birthday party for Javed Akhtar

As poet-thinker-writer-activist Javed Akhtar turns 72, his better-half Shabana Azmi plans to surprise her dear beloved Jadu with a magical evening filled with close friends, loved ones and lots and lots of home-made food.

The surprise party is entirely Shabana s brain-child.

Exhausted after a musical evening that she had organized in memory of her father the legendary poet Kaifi Azmi s 98th birthday on Saturday, Shabana just wanted a quiet family get-together on Javed Saab s birthday on Tuesday.

But then, the couple s plethora of friends won t let them be.

What was planned as a quiet evening has turned into sprawling evening with promise of outstanding home-made food and poetry recital and lots of conversation.

Says the house-proud husband-happy actress, When it comes to Jadu, nothing is decided till the last minute. So, till last night, nothing was happening. But, he has magic not only in his name but also in his persona. Friends say, Yaay! Yuhoo ! We want to be there for him. So there will be tons of home-cooked food great company and I hope a happy time will be had by all!

We wish Javed Saab a happy birthday and a healthy year ahead.