Javed Akhtar opens Mumbai LitFest with Kabir, Rahim and Vrind

Javed Akhtar opened the 17th Mumbai LitFest at NCPA on Friday with a discussion of Kabir, Rahim and Vrind, three poets known for their dohas.

In a session with Sumantra Ghoshal, Akhtar launched *Three Masters*, an English-language book on the poets’ dohas. The book presents the poets in separate chapters and includes rhyming translations.

Akhtar said the book grew from a television programme in which he interpreted dohas on camera. Those responses were later edited into book form.

He described Kabir as a critic of religious orthodoxy and superstition, and discussed a verse about a musk deer searching outside for a scent that comes from within. “We all are like that deer,” he said.

The conversation also covered Rahim’s writing on friendship, reconciliation, and the difference between information, knowledge and wisdom.

Earlier, the opening Anil Dharker Session remembered the festival’s late founder. Co-director Amy Fernandes, programming director Antoine Lewis and Nadir Godrej unveiled the 2026 brochure, and Godrej read a poem.

The NCPA programme continues through October 25, including Leeya Mehta’s launch of *Extinction*.