An actor-turned-writer, Honey Irani began her career in Bollywood as a child actress in the the 1950s. As a child actor, she appeared in movies such as Ek Shola (1956), Qaidi No. 911 (1959), Didi (1959), and Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan (1959). Later, she went on to appear in several other films and it was on the sets of the movie Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) that she met Javed Akhtar, whom she was married for a period of 13 years. Although the couple separated in 1978, they got a divorce in 1985. After their divorce, Honey devoted her time in nurturing her kids Zoya (who is a Bollywood director) and Farhan (who is a filmmaker, actor and singer).

Eventually, Honey ventured into screenwriting and made her debut as a writer with the 1991 movie Lamhe, which fetched the Filmfare Award for Best Story. She has since then delivered several successful movies such as Darr (1993), Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000), Kya Kehna (2000), Koi Mil Gaya (2003), Krrish (2006) and Krrish 3 (2013).