Salim-Javed’s ‘Janjeer’ (1973) and its protagonist Vijay’s anger burned everything before it and became a legend when the film ran in theatres. Never the same again.
Then came ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’ (1975) and that was it. It cemented the era of the angry young man embodied by Amitabh Bachchan. Also, the era of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, whose stories and screenplays and dialogues made a great way into meaningful mainstream Hindi cinema.
Produced by Salman Khan Films, Excel Media and Tiger Baby and directed by Namrata Rao, the three-part documentary ‘Angry Young Men’ is full of past and interesting st.
It was a huge success both financially and creatively: writers were considered very low on the totem pole. For ‘Dostana’, when Salim-Javed got more than Bachchan’s male lead, people still describe it with just the right amount of awe, the industry lore said.
The three 45-50 minute parts feature a star-studded line-up, with the reach of the film unit showing most of the principals as producers. Salman, Arbaaz, Helen are there; Farhan, Zoya, Shabana. There’s Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan née Bhaturi, who was a bigger star than her then-boyfriend when she agreed to do ‘Janjeer’. When you’re trying to keep track of who said what, which is expected, it’s highly commendable that a few that stand out do so because they reveal some spicy truths about the duo.
This is the main part of the series. It immediately takes the subjects and humanizes them with all their vulnerability, while most others — including the lens of trade analysts and film critics — are susceptible to absolute appreciation.
Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali’s passages on a paradoxical point about how Salim-Javed’s women are not exactly the epitome of agency and independence are also enjoyable.
