When writers were B-Town superstars

Salim-Javed, Hindi cinema’s most successful screenwriters, also wrote two Kannada films. A tribute to them

The other day I recommended a series of Hindi films to my children: ‘Seeta aur Geeta’, ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Don’, and ‘Mr India’. They watched these hits from the 1970s and ’80s one after the other, and found them engaging and entertaining. They liked the main characters’ confidence to win over adversity.

My children were also impressed by the impactful dialogues. They wanted to do TikTok videos of dialogues like “Mere paas ma hai”, “Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya”, “Kitne aadmi the” and the iconic “Mogambo khush hua”. I was glad when they asked me who had written the lines.

“Salim-Javed!” I said. Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar were instrumental in giving Amitabh Bacchan his angry young man persona. They were the superstar writers of the era. They not only earned splendidly but also appeared prominently on film posters. This was perhaps the first time writers’ names on posters drew people to the theatres.

My son also liked the villains in the films. He thought they were strong, distinctive and unforgettable. “Their names — Gabbar, Sambha, Shakal, Mogambo ­— are etched in my mind,” he said.

My daughter said, “Why only the villains? The heroines stand out too. Look at Seeta and Geeta, Basanti in ‘Sholay’, and the awesomely powerful mother in ‘Deewar’.”

“Good observations,” I said. They then said all characters were wonderfully written. They could recall many characters who appear just briefly.

I asked them to watch two more of Salim-Javed’s films. They were surprised to know they were in Kannada: ‘Premada Kanike’ and ‘Raja Nanna Raja’, both with Dr Rajkumar in the lead. They were excited. I was proud that like me, my children too had become fans of Salim-Javed.

Farhan Akthar and Zoya Akhtar are Javed’s children. Salim has five children, the eldest being Salman Khan. My children felt a new connect.

They asked me to recommend more films to watch. I felt sad Salim-Javed hadn’t worked together longer. After breaking up, they have written individual films. Javed still writes lyrics for film songs, besides poetry elsewhere. But the magic of ‘Salim-Javed’ is now history.

My children consoled me: “As you say, life must go on. Enjoy the wonderful films their children are giving us now.”

Hearing this, it struck me that my children had grown up in a jiffy, like the children in the films of Salim–Javed.

(The writer is an actor, director, singer, writer)

24 in all

Salim-Javed wrote 22 Bollywood films over 16 years (1971-87). Their biggest hits were Seeta Aur Geeta, Deewar, Zanjeer, Sholay, Trishul, Don, and Mr India. They also wrote two hit Kannada films--Premada Kanike and Raja Nanna Raja.