Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) Scriptwriter Salim Khan would often tell Zoya Akhtar stories from her childhood and the way he and her father, Javed Akhtar, came up with the script of some of their most iconic movies whenever she bumped into him during their morning walk. And that’s how the idea for “Angry Young Men” was born.
The documentary, which Zoya has produced with brother Farhan Akhtar and Salim Khan’s son Salman Khan, is a behind-the-scenes exploration of the phenomenon that Salim-Javed, as they came to be known in the 70s and 80s, were when their name alone on a script was considered a guarantee of success.
“Salim uncle walks on the Bandstand and I bumped into him because I was going for a walk. Sometimes, we just hang around like, if he is sitting for a breather, I would just go and chill with him. He would tell me stories about how they wrote scripts, about my childhood and things that I don’t remember. I was like, ‘We need to put this on paper’,” Zoya told PTI in an interview.
One day, she and her co-producer Reema Kagti approached Salim Khan during one of his walks to seek his permission for the documentary.
“We were like ‘We want to do this documentary, so will you do it?’ He said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it’. Then we spoke to my dad and he was like, ‘Sure! If he will do it, then I’ll do it’. I called Alvira (Salim Khan’s daughter) and met Salma (Salim Khan’s wife) aunty and she gave her blessings, then Farhan and I went and met Salman and he came on board.”
Her father, Zoya said, was always open to the idea of a documentary provided his former writing partner was willing to participate.
“He was like, ‘Get back to me when it happens’,” she said, recalling how she wanted to make it in 2018, a “very hectic year” for her when she was already working on “Gully Boy”, “Lust Stories” and the series “Made in Heaven”.
She eventually got around to the documentary, named after the persona of ‘Angry Young Man’ the duo created in the 70s, which became a cinematic representation of the era through films like “Zanjeer”, “Sholay” and “Deewar”, and also gave birth to Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom.
“This is personal, and it has been a passion project for all the kids,” said the filmmaker, who has produced the three-part project with Reema Kagti through their production banner Tiger Baby.
Her brother Farhan and his producing partner Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment as well as superstar Salman Khan, son of Salim Khan, have also backed the documentary.
Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar were perhaps the first and only Indian screenwriters to achieve star status. After collaborating on 22 Bollywood films, which also included “Yaadon Ki Baaraat”, “Trishul”, “Kaala Patthar”, “Dostana”, “Seeta Aur Geeta” and “Mr India”, as well as two Kannada films, the duo decided to split in 1982.
Zoya, who already knew the story on a personal level, said she was keen to document their collaborative period as she felt it was important to share it with future writers.
“They’ve been very impactful artists and people in terms of their spirit and that needed to be shared with other people because they are both incredibly inspiring. We are at a stage right now, where writers need to see them and meet them. This generation of writers needs to meet people that have that kind of zest, conviction and spirit. They are too special and they need to be archived,” she added.
Noted film editor Namrata Rao, known for her work on movies such as “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!”, “Ishqiya” and “Kahaani”, has directed the docuseries.
Rao said when she was approached to direct the project, she wanted to do a “cartwheel”.
“I relate to their (Salim-Javed) story because they came from nowhere and made the industry their own. They made such amazing films. That is something I relate to and aspire to do. I connected with their story instantly. It was a great discovery to understand how they started, what they did, and how they owned that space,” she added.
Zoya, who is already a successful writer-director and producer, while brother Farhan is a successful producer-director and actor, said she learned a lot from Salim-Javed and their storytelling, whether it was about creating memorable characters, dialogues or strong female characters even in a largely male setting.
Giving the example of the character of Sambha from the 1975 cult classic movie “Sholay”, directed by Ramesh Sippy and featuring Bachchan, Dharmendra, Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kumar, Zoya said the character had just one line but he is still remembered.
“And that is very important to us writers. Even if we have a supportive role or one-scene role, we’ve to give them characteristics and give them something memorable. Also the fact that their women (onscreen) are very strong, all women in their films had agency, even though it was always male-driven stories but women were strong and impactful.
“They made very clean films, there was nothing vulgar in them, and their tone was very clean. These are the most important things that I’ve taken and above all entertainment.”
The 51-year-old filmmaker said no writers in the Hindi film industry have managed to attain the success like that of Salim-Javed because the duo always focused on storytelling.
“Nothing succeeds like success, I don’t think anyone has a track record, and I don’t think anyone has consistently delivered success. The minute that happens then there might be another name to reckon with. They were on point with that, they had conviction, and they had people around them who believed in them,” she said.
Rao said she spent three years on “Angry Young Men”, from March 2021 to March 2024 and added that she sought the expertise of research producer Deepti Nagpaul, the research agency Past Perfect, and the renowned film historian SMM Ausaja.
“We shot the personal parts later. We started with all the work that they’ve done, each film, how they met, their chemistry, and everything, and then we went into personal things,” Rao added.
In addition to family members, the docuseries features insightful interviews with industry figures, including Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Kannada movie star Yash.
“Angry Young Men” will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on August 20.