 "'Angry Young Men: The Salim Javed Story' documentary review: An imperfect but impassioned ode to Hindi cinema's most iconic writers")
Cast: Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar
Director: Namrata Rao
Language: Hindi and English
The coming together of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar is a story that could make for a whole new documentary. When you decide to document the lives of Hindi cinema’s most iconic writing duo, it’s impossible to film every experience they have lived. But Khan, who’s a sharp and charismatic speaker, makes up for a lot of emptiness one could feel while watching the documentary. And equally tenacious is Akhtar, whose sense of humour is truly for the ages. The fact they split during the making of Mr. India became an issue of national interest, and that’s perhaps the reason why Salim and Javed are interviewed separately, to add more drama to the pathos of their parting ways.
Director Namrata Rao takes on the challenge to dive deep into the lives of these two people who soon became a force to reckon with, and penned some of Hindi cinema’s most memorable and crucial films. We now call them the new wave. Zanjeer, for that matter, that came out in 1973, was as much of a game changer for this duo as it was for Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan and Salim-Javed were the blockbuster Jodi and yet, this actor makes an entry only towards the end of episode one. He says he was done and dusted and the fact that Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar wanted to even pitch an idea to him was heartening. And then began the journey that gave us Sholay, Don, Trishul, and Dostana, and Deewar.
But unlike other biopics or documentaries on famous people that steers clear from their flaws and failures, _Angry Young Men_ dares to acknowledge these superstars’ flaws. Superstar is a team usually reserved for actors, but here came two beasts that were unapologetic and unabashed in asking a lac more than Bachchan. They confess of becoming arrogant, and also talk about the failure of their film Imaan Dharam. They also address the lukewarm response to the 1980 film Shaan, which came five years after the classic Sholay involving the same team. And then the shocking split that shook the industry.
This is a trajectory that could’ve explored with a little more insight and depth and detail. Salim Khan, at one point, says he would only like to talk about the good memories he has with his once partner in crime. In between nostalgic photographs and footages, we also get bytes from stars like Karan Johar, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Farhan Akhtar, and even writers like Varun Grover, Anjum Rajabali, and filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee. Theirs are the observations that leave far more impact that the anecdotal experiences of the others closer to the writers. Well that could also be the essence of the documentary. How writers and directors make more sense at times and yet, the focus always is on the actors. Salim-Javed dared to change that and ultimately did, and then we went back to square one.
Angry Young Men: The Salim Javed Story is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video IN
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