Salim-Javed, the legendary screenwriters who revolutionised Indian cinema in the 1970s with films such as ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Sholay’ and ‘Deewar’, will reunite to pen a new feature project, Javed Akhtar, one-half of the duo, announced on August 13. The industry stalwart made the announcement during the trailer launch of the upcoming Prime Video docuseries ‘Angry Young Men’, which explores the formidable creative partnership and legacy of Salim Khan and Akhtar.
“Now, let me tell you that we are going to write. I’ve spoken to him (Salim Khan). ‘Bas ek aur picture hum likhenge saath mein’ (We will write just one more film together).
“Uss zamane mein bhi humari price zyada thi, iss zamane mein toh bohot zyada hogi, woh dekh lijiyega (In the earlier days, we used to charge a premium price for our work. It will be even higher in today’s time, so please see to it),” Akhtar told reporters here.
Salim-Javed are credited for reinventing the Bollywood blockbuster format through their films, playing to the gallery but also chronicling the angst of their times. The duo was also noted for being the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status. After collaborating on 22 Hindi films and two Kannada movies, the duo decided to end their partnership in 1982.
The title of the docuseries, ‘Angry Young Men’, refers to the angry young man hero-type they created in the ’70s, which became a cinematic representation of the era and also gave birth to Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom. The three-part series will stream on Prime Video on August 20.
‘Angry Young Men’ is a joint venture produced by superstar Salman Khan’s Salman Khan Films; Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment; and Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s ‘Tiger Baby Films’. Namrata Rao, known for her work as an editor on movies such as ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’, ‘Ishqiya’, ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ and ‘Kahaani’, is the director.