One of the most renowned screenwriting duos in Bollywood history, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar are featured prominently in the documentary series ‘Angry Young Men’, which was recently released on Amazon Prime Video. The series is filled with anecdotes about their lives and careers. The duo gained limelight when their Amitabh Bachchan-starring movie ‘Zanjeer’ became popular.Even though the film altered the conventions of filmmaking in the Hindi cinema industry, it is now recognized as the film in which the majority of actors turned down roles.
In a conversation with filmmaker Farah Khan, Salim shared, “Zanjeer is a game changer. Before that films would have songs, comedy as the parallel track. So people initially didn’t understand what we were trying to do with our films as there were no songs, no comedy. One producer even told us that we wasted his 2.5 hours while we narrated Zanjeer to them.”
When Farah inquired as to how many times Zanjeer had been turned down, Salim said, “So many times.” To which, Javed added, “Interestingly all our films that went on to become superhits were first rejected many times. Then there was also a time that whatever we wrote, people would just accept it.”
Salim Khan disclosed that Zanjeer was turned down by every star of the 1970s. He shared, “All of them, from Dilip sahab to Dharmendra and Rajkumar. We were not getting any hero, none of the heroines were also interested.” Javed then revealed, “Then we finally got Amitabh and when he agreed, we weren’t getting a heroine. First we were not getting a hero and after Amitabh, no heroine was ready to do our film.”
Salim added that they believed that Jaya would not decline the film due to Amitabh receiving a significant opportunity as Jaya knew that Amitabh’s career would flourish after this film. It had been clearly communicated to her that she would have minimal involvement in the project. She agreed to participate solely for the sake of Amitabh Bachchan.
Javed Akhtar also explained his belief as to why Zanjeer was unpopular among people. He said that looking back, it is not surprising that the film was rejected by all. It was during the peak period of Rajesh Khanna when people were enamored with the music of Laxmikant–Pyarelal and RD Burman. The filmmakers felt like insignificant figures, wandering with a script that defied the norms of the time. The hero in their story had no songs, no romance, no smiles, and no comedy – a concept unheard of at that time. However, history has shown that a film can only become a super hit if it breaks away from the current trends. Yet, selling such a film proves to be a challenging task.
In a conversation with filmmaker Farah Khan, Salim shared, “Zanjeer is a game changer. Before that films would have songs, comedy as the parallel track. So people initially didn’t understand what we were trying to do with our films as there were no songs, no comedy. One producer even told us that we wasted his 2.5 hours while we narrated Zanjeer to them.”
When Farah inquired as to how many times Zanjeer had been turned down, Salim said, “So many times.” To which, Javed added, “Interestingly all our films that went on to become superhits were first rejected many times. Then there was also a time that whatever we wrote, people would just accept it.”
Salim Khan disclosed that Zanjeer was turned down by every star of the 1970s. He shared, “All of them, from Dilip sahab to Dharmendra and Rajkumar. We were not getting any hero, none of the heroines were also interested.” Javed then revealed, “Then we finally got Amitabh and when he agreed, we weren’t getting a heroine. First we were not getting a hero and after Amitabh, no heroine was ready to do our film.”
Salim added that they believed that Jaya would not decline the film due to Amitabh receiving a significant opportunity as Jaya knew that Amitabh’s career would flourish after this film. It had been clearly communicated to her that she would have minimal involvement in the project. She agreed to participate solely for the sake of Amitabh Bachchan.
Javed Akhtar also explained his belief as to why Zanjeer was unpopular among people. He said that looking back, it is not surprising that the film was rejected by all. It was during the peak period of Rajesh Khanna when people were enamored with the music of Laxmikant–Pyarelal and RD Burman. The filmmakers felt like insignificant figures, wandering with a script that defied the norms of the time. The hero in their story had no songs, no romance, no smiles, and no comedy – a concept unheard of at that time. However, history has shown that a film can only become a super hit if it breaks away from the current trends. Yet, selling such a film proves to be a challenging task.
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