Writer in me very strong, says Zoya Akhtar

"The writer in me is very strong. I feel whether I direct my next film or not, that will not majorly affect my life. But no matter where I am, I can't stop writing," Zoya told IANS.

"In school, I would always score the highest on essays. Since school, I was told that I can write," she added.

Besides, Zoya admits she always had the advantage of being Javed Akhtar's daughter.

"I only had an advantage of being his daughter because I had a special kind of upbringing. My brother and I grew up together and we never had this difference of a boy and a girl. Our exposure was very wide," she said.

Zoya says she imbibed good reading habits from her father, and a lot more from her mother, who parted ways with Javed Akhtar years ago.

"My mom was in film school when we were in school, so we used to go to FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) on weekends. She used to collect a lot of films and she used to have lot of DVDs on world cinema. So Farhan and I have seen lot of films with her."

"I have learnt swimming, cycling and camping... all this we learnt from or mother. The reading habit (is what) I got from my father. Reading, questioning, analysing, discussing... all that came from my father," she added.

Zoya says despite her parents' divorce, they had immense respect for each other.

"If my parents were together, life would have been different and now when they are not together, it's a different life. Now it's been too long. My parents' relationship is very strong, they have immense respect for each other and they are good friends."

In the meantime, Zoya is busy promoting thriller movie "Talaash", which she has scripted.

Directed by Reema Kagti, "Talaash" features Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. It is slated to release Nov 30.