India, Jan. 16 -- Lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar has spoken about how assistant directors were treated in the Hindi film industry during the early stages of his career, and about their position in the industry now. He also talked about secularism, adding that it can't be taught through crash courses as it's a "way of life" that comes naturally. He was speaking at the inaugural day of the 19th Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) on Thursday.

Javed remembered that earlier assistant directors were disrespected and asked to fetch the clothes and even the shoes of actors. "Today, things in the film industry are much more streamlined than ever... I remember when I was an assistant director and first joined the film industry, the position of assista...