Angry Young Men: Inside Prime Videos Documentary Series on Bollywood Screenwriting Le

Posted by Martina Birk on Sunday, September 1, 2024

Prime Video is set to premiere “Angry Young Men,” a three-part documentary series that captures the personal and professional journey of legendary screenwriting duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, known collectively as Salim-Javed.

Produced by Salman Khan Films, Excel Media & Entertainment and Tiger Baby, the docu-series is executive produced by Salma Khan, Salman Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. It delves into how Salim-Javed revolutionized Indian cinema in the 1970s by reinventing the Bollywood formula, introducing ‘angry young man’ heroes in a romance-dominated industry, and popularizing the action-drama genre. The original ‘angry young man’ was Amitabh Bachchan who, after a string of middling films, began his journey to superstardom with Prakash Mehra’s “Zanjeer” (1973), written by Salim-Javed.

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When producer Zoya Akhtar, daughter of Javed Akhtar, set out to chronicle their story, she knew it was a tale long overdue for telling. “I grew up with them and watching these films,” Akhtar told Variety. “There’s a generation that doesn’t know them, and there is nobody else that has managed to create that kind of noise, garner that kind of attention, make that kind of impact and hold that kind of clout in the industry, being just pure writers.”

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The series explores the partnership of Salim-Javed, who wrote 24 films together, 22 of which were blockbusters, before their split in 1982. It features rare archival footage and offers a nostalgic glimpse into their personal relationships, camaraderie and creative brilliance. spotlighting their iconic characters and blockbusters such as “Deewar,” “Don,” “Sholay,” “Trishul” and “Dostana.” It also features heartfelt reflections from industry figures like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Yash and Kareena Kapoor Khan, highlighting the significant impact Salim-Javed had on their careers. Family members offering their perspective include Salman Khan, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Arbaaz Khan, Honey Irani, Helen and Shabani Azmi alongside Salim-Javed themselves.

The series marks the directorial debut of Namrata Rao, known for her work as an editor on projects like “Kahaani” and Zoya Akhtar’s “Lust Stories,” “Ghost Stories” and “Made in Heaven.” “We used to talk about this a lot, and I used to get very excited about it, and after two years, Zoya asked me if I would like to direct it,” Rao told Variety. “I was over the moon, I thought it’s a great subject.”

Rao’s perspective as a filmmaker outside the Salim-Javed families brought a fresh approach to the documentary. “Even I was apprehensive in the beginning,” Rao admits, “and I told Zoya also, I mean, we discussed it, and she was also clear that we don’t want to do a birthday video or a puff piece.” This led Rao to tackle some challenging aspects of the Salim-Javed story. “I went all out. I mean, I asked them a lot of uncomfortable questions, and surprisingly, they were very cool about it,” she reveals. The writers’ openness to addressing difficult topics stems from their storytelling instincts, as Rao explains: “I think they also, somewhere believed that good storytelling needs black, white and everything in between. You know, it’s not just ‘we are great.’ So they were very good about it. In fact, they love these parts themselves.”

Akhtar added, “I think it was interesting to have a female gaze on these very male artists and the character they created [the angry young man] was extremely male… and to figure out what led to this anger and what were these wounds that led to this character coming to the screen.”

The production faced several challenges, not least of which was shooting during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were shooting with a lot of old people,” says Rao. “We were shooting in masks, with distancing. Some people, we had to shoot from really far away.”

Another significant hurdle was the lack of a proper archiving culture in the Indian film industry. “The procurements, we have more than 500 assets from different producers from all over. Putting them together took us almost a year,” Rao explains. Akhtar adds, “To find who owns what, where does this clip come from, where did that photograph come from – that was a bit of a challenge.”

Despite these obstacles, both Akhtar and Rao found the process rewarding. For Rao, there was a sense of providence throughout the production. “At every step, we would reach a dead end, but something would open up,” she says.

Akhtar’s highlight was the series’ trailer launch, which brought together the families of both Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. “Finding for them a closure to their professional life together, I think that was the highlight for me,” she says.

The documentary aims to answer the long-standing question of why Salim and Javed split, though Akhtar notes, “The straw that broke the camel’s back with them, I don’t think they’re telling anyone, personally.”

As for what they hope audiences take away from the series, both emphasize the inspirational aspect of Salim-Javed’s story. “Go for it. Have your conviction and chase it,” says Akhtar. Rao adds, “It’s a story of belief. It’s a story of dreaming big, and a story of saying that even if you have nothing, it doesn’t mean that is what it is going to be.”

“Angry Young Men” not only chronicles the rise of two legendary screenwriters who captured the zeitgeist of the 1970s, but also sheds light on the state of screenwriting in Bollywood today. As Akhtar observes, “Right now, things are really fragmented, and the writers are writing in silos. There are very few that are actually coming across speaking for an entire generation.”

The series streams from Aug. 20.

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