Legendary screenwriter duo Salim and Javed have written multiple movies that are considered to be some of the most significant in Bollywood’s history. They have also been credited for providing writers with the recognition they deserve. Recently, writer Amit Aryan – known for shows and movies like FIR , Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai , Lapataganj , ABCD , and Do Knot Disturb – said that Salim and Javed are more like “copywriters,” claiming they never produced truly original work.
He further suggested that their most iconic film, Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay , was “copied” from a Raj Khosla movie. A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) While speaking about the same with Digital Commentary, Aryan said, “I do not consider Salim and Javed writers. They are two people whom the whole world salutes, but they have only, in their entire lives, plagiarized.
Salim and Javed are copy-writers, not writers.” Aryan further claimed that Sholay was a copy of Khosla’s Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), starring Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, and Vinod Khanna. “ Sholay features one man, whose hands were cut off and his family eliminated by a dacoit, trying to take revenge against his rival through other persons.
In Mera Gaon Mera Desh , Vinod Khanna played a dacoit named Jabbar Singh, who became Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) in Sholay . Actor Jayant played a retired soldier in the Khosla movie whose one hand was cut off. In Sholay , there is a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) instead w.
