It was a chance encounter on a movie set in the 1960s between Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar that marked the beginning of their successful partnership as screenwriters and the rest, as they say, is history. Akhtar, one-half of the writing duo, said he met his collaborator while Khan was acting in the 1966 film "Sarhadi Lutera". "We never decided that we will now start working together, we never consciously decided that now we'll work together, it just grew, it just happened.
The first job I got, I was paid Rs 50 for that, then jumped to Rs 100 as my fee for 'Sarhadi Lutera'. "It turned out to be one of the most important films in my career because that's where I met Salim sahab. He was the romantic lead in that film and I was writing dialogues for it," Akhtar told reporters.
At the trailer launch event of the Prime Video docuseries "'Angry Young Men', which explores their creative partnership and legacy, Akhtar recalled his first meeting with Khan. It was Khan, with whom Akhtar wrote 'Zanjeer', 'Seeta Aur Geeta', 'Deewar', 'Sholay', and 'Mr India', who encouraged him to pen scripts for movies. "The director and the producer on the film ('Sarhadi Lutera') troubled me a lot during that time but it was Salim sahab who continuously motivated me to write.
He said 'If you can write so well for a film like this, you'd write so much better for better films'," he said. Akhtar said he would frequently meet Khan at his Bandra residence after moving to the Mumbai suburb. "At least one meal was fixed for me.
We used to sit and write stories. Around that time S. M.
Sagar sahab, who made 'Sarhadi Lutera' and who introduced us, told us that there was a ghost story and asked us to write a screenplay for that, and we agreed. "He said he'd pay us Rs 5,000 for it, I skipped a heartbeat hearing that. We both wrote the screenplay for that, we did ghost writing for it.
We met a gentleman there who knew that we had written the screenplay for that film and he asked us to go to Sippy Films." One afternoon, Akhtar recalled, he and Khan went to the office of production house Sippy Films where they met superstar Rajesh Khanna who asked them write the screenplay of 'Haathi Mere Saathi', the 1971 movie which turned out to be a blockbuster. "There was not one specific day when we decided that we'll start working together from today or that we would become partners.
We just grew, it just happened like that. Then, you all know, the rest is history," he said. Khan, who was also present at the event, said one of his fondest memories of their heyday was when a group of fans showed up at a movie's premiere chanting the writer duo's name.
"We were going for a film's premiere and Javed sahab and I were in the same car, and ahead of us a director-producer was travelling who had made a film 20 years ago. Some kids came and started banging on the bonnet 'Salim-Javed Zindabad, Salim-Javed Zindabad'. "I took out Rs 10 notes and gave it (to) them instructing them to go chant the director's name.
As soon as they did that the director looked back and realised that the kids may have known us," he said. "Angry Young Men" is a joint production of Salman Khan's Salman Khan Films, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment, and Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti 's Tiger Baby Films. Salim Khan's children, including Salman, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan, Arpita Khan Sharma, grandsons Arhaan and Nirvaan; Akhtar's wife Shabana Azmi , his children Farhan and Zoya also attended the event alongside Kagti and Sidhwani.
At the trailer launch, Akhtar fondly remembered meeting Salman Khan when he was barely a year old. "When I met Salim sahab for the first time, Salman wasn't even one year old, this was in the year 1965. He's really handsome today but he has been beautiful ever since he was a child.
"He was an exceptionally good-looking child. The other children were born in front of me. Today, Salman is the 'He-Man', this dashing hero, but he was a very shy and quiet child who spoke less," he recalled.
Among Khan's three sons Salman, Arbaaz and Sohail, the second child was the naughty one. "..
.Jo badmaash bachcha tha, woh tha Arbaaz (The mischievous one was Arbaaz). He was a regular seducer.
He would befriend Salim sahab's friends and build a special relationship with them. Arbaaz doesn't remember the things he did as a child," he added. "Angry Young Men", directed by Namrata Rao, will arrive on Prime Video on August 20.
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