Angry Young Men director Namrata Rao says Salim-Javed had reservations in the first meeting; Salman Khan was more than happy - Exclusive

Ace director Namrata Rao recently directed a docuseries Angry Young Men, which highlights the life of famous writer duo Salim Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar).

The hit duo wrote almost 24 stories between 1971 and 1987, out of which 22 movies were superhits. Their movies include Sholay, Deewar, Kala Pathar, Mr. India, and Seeta aur Geeta, to name a few.

Salim-Javed transformed the Hindi film industry with the introduction of 'angry young man'. It was Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay, who became synonymous as the Angry Young Man in films like Zanjeer and Sholay, to name a few. Their movies were a departure from the romantic films that had ruled Hindi cinema prior to that.

Salim and Javed worked together till 1982, the time when both decided to split.

Angry Young Men marks the directorial debut of National Award-winning editor Namrata Rao.

In an exclusive conversation with MoneyControl, Namrata first addressed the reason why she chose to go with just 3 episodes in the documentary and who convinced her to come up with the idea.

Namrata said she wanted to keep it short and crisp. Though the documentary series delves into the lives of the writers—when they became big, their personal lives and ups and downs.

Namrata also said that it was Javed Akhtar’s daughter, and director Zoya Akhtar thought about it. When asked if there were any restrictions on her while asking questions or at the editing table, she said there were none.

Namrata said Salim sir’s son and superstar Salman Khan was more than happy for this documentary series, and in fact he wanted more episodes.

Excerpts from the chat:

What made you think of this documentary series on Mr. Salim-Javed?

Actually, Zoya then thought about it, and she'd asked me if I would like to direct it, and I was over the moon when she asked me. So, I thought it would be very polite to ask me. So, I thought it would be very interesting to have a female gaze on two men who have created the angry young men. So, I thought it was a very exciting and interesting idea. It was a very instinctive yes for me.

Were you skeptical about this documentary series at any point in time, and why did you want to bring it to life?

Not at all. I mean, there are so many films, but you always keep wanting to make more films. I'm very happy that the culture of documentaries is coming, and people are loving and enjoying these films. And like, they have done such great work and such a body of work that has influenced so many people. It needs to be archived, I think, and it needs to have a place where the younger generation can also learn about them and know about their films and how much they influenced the culture of the time, you know, and whatnot. I think it's great—the more the merrier. I'm very happy at this trend.

Were there any restrictions while making this documentary?

Actually jab humne ye shuru kiya toh humne baat kari kaafi, that agar hum unki sirf achchaiyan dikhayenge toh bahut boring rahega. So, all of them agreed on that, and all of them are storytellers, that we need all kinds of things to make an interesting story. So, actually, I was really lucky, and it was really great on their part that there were no such restrictions.”

“And Salim Javed didn’t have any apprehensions. They told us everything we asked them. That fear was there, but nothing of that, but it was unfounded.”

What is the reaction to the series? 

I am getting messages and calls. People are enjoying it. People are liking it. People are sending me messages that aur hona chahiye tha, which I think is always a good thing because less is more. People are finding it emotional, which was always my intention—that I want to go beyond the films they have done and see who they are as people, as artists. What caused them to write these stories? What was their inspiration? That was my intention. And I think that that has come through, and a lot of people are feeling touched by their struggle and by what all they have been through to reach here. I mean, they're outsiders. They didn't know anybody in the film business. Phir bhi unhone aakey itna saara kaam kiya, I think people are really connecting with that sentiment because that is a universal emotion.”

Why focus only on two movies -  Sholay and Deewar?

They had done many films; for example, personally, I love Kala Pathar, Shakti—I didn't want it to just be about films, as I said. That way, every film would have to be turned into one documentary. I chose these 2 films because Deewar for me is a very great screenplay, and I think it kind of peaked them as writers. And Sholay is such a big part of our culture. That is why I chose these two particular films. I did try to fill other films into it too, but it seemed that there are too many things that are happening. Because the whole idea of a mother figure influencing their work. Who Deewar mein bahut potent hai? In Sholay, they created so many characters that people remember each and every character from that film. After so many years. And people remember people remember the small characters, Samba, Kalia, you know, the jailer. As a writing thing, it was very interesting to see that they thought of it and how they gave life to each and every character.

Why did you interview Salim Saab and Javi, for example, separately? Any particular reason?

No particular reason for that. I wanted to interview them separately, and I wanted them to come together only in the end, which is how we'll be without it. Nowadays, it isn’t like they meet daily or hang out together. They're also old, and, you know, they're very comfortable in their spaces. So, because it's a documentary, I just wanted to shoot things as they are. So, it just made more sense to me, and it was a better story. I think that, you know, they're separate, and then they come together in. They are quite comfortable with each other. And one more important thing is that we started shooting this series in the pandemic, so at that time it was not possible for us to shoot it together, and we didn’t have that option. I started liking it this way.

Did Salim Javed have any questions or apprehensions regarding this documentary?

Maybe in the first meeting, they did because they had said hum to bahut interviews de chuke hai, bahut kuch bata chuke hai, hum par toh search karo internet par kaafi kuch mil jata hai, ye kya different hoga. Then I would tell them that it is not so much about the information, not so much about the trivia, but the people who are, you know, just, you know, capturing you in your natural spaces. How you are as fathers, how you are as people, who you were as artists. You still are. I think they are artists. So it was more from that lens. And once we started shooting, they also got into the group. I mean, they also understood what I'm trying to do. So, they were very, very cooperative and friendly.

Why are Salman and Amitabh Bachchan seen less in the series?

It wasn’t like that; in fact, when stars come to the show, it is really amazing. I was only trying to stick to my narrative that the series is about these two people, and we had lots of amazing footage, but we couldn’t use it because we were following one narrative spine—that where did they come from, how they came together, and then they parted ways. This was the determining factor. So Tory was king. That is all I can say.

And Salman Khan reaction. What was his first question to you about why this talk is?

There was no why from his side because he loves his, father's work and he felt it should that it should reach a younger generation, and the next generation should know how much they influence the culture of that time. Definitely there was no why but a How was there as to what we would show in the documentary? Like there were certain questions there—especially the poster scene—he asked, ‘How do you plan to show it?’ Will it be shown or spoken about or not? These were the discussions we had. But never did he question why; he just loved their work and the films.

So you think all this should be documented, and he wanted more episodes.

Were you asked to tone down any questions?

Not at all. And na hi kabhi shooting par aisa hua. If they didn’t want to answer any question during the shoot, they wouldn’t answer. Nobody told me ki ye nahi poochna hai, aisa baat nahi karenge. Even with Salman, if you see, he is quite candid. So nothing of that sort was there.

What all people did you have in mind? Just family?

These people who have worked with them—unfortunately, many actors and people from that era aren’t alive any more—Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, Ravi Tandon—with whom they had worked. So there was limitation—archives mein se lane they. There was this limitation. Of course, you talk to people who are experts, who are academic. But it has to serve the story, and it has to be engaging too. This was my main purpose. I wasn’t thinking of whom to give more footage; I have kept quotes of those who have said interesting things about the duo.

Did you have any apprehensions? A restriction could create a controversy, like because Salman has an aura of himself and then others like Javed and himself. So did you have anything?

Actually, I didn’t censor myself during the shoot, not even while asking the questions. As I said before, nobody questioned me, and the feedback that they gave was more on engagement issues. structural issues—Reema Kagti suggested that we begin with the failure and then go into the story of them coming together.

Zoya suggested that how did the angry young man come from and what time? Salman did not say anything, but he was very happy with everything. It was like this, and nobody questioned me.

The biggest revelation that you've made in this documentary?

I think of them as people. I mean, you know a lot about them, even these incidents like painting their names on the poster and all these have out if you're a film buff. A lot of people know about these things. Like, who they are as people you know and who you are when you have been so successful. And now, when you look back, what do you feel about it? For me, these were more interesting things. The human aspect, the emotional aspect of success of not being at the peak anymore. So for me, that was more interesting. For me, what caught my attention was that Salim sir had come to Mumbai with a dream of becoming an actor, but his son is a big superstar.

Yeah. Like, you know, superstar. You know, for me, these stories are very interesting. And how do you react to these things as a human being? The heart is to those who have seen that kind of success. So, really, those are the interesting aspects.

How much of the footage got edited on the editing table?

Nothing. Nobody came for the editing. There was a lot of footage. Actually, I showed them the cuts after the episode was ready. They all never saw the editing studio where we edited this documentary series. Really nice and incredibly grateful to them for letting it be.

What was Mr. Bachchan’s reaction?

He feels grateful about it, I mean, and, of course, he's such a talented actor himself that, just took off after that. You know? But they continued to work together. They worked together for a decade, and they've done such great films together.

Having Mrs. Jaya Bachchan was a pleasant surprise. 

Actually, she was seeing Mr. Bachchan then, and so that’s what Salim-Javed told her: If you want him to do this and no woman actor is agreeing, please do it. So you'll just have to do it now. You know? So that is how it happened.

What’s your next project now, after this?

I'm working on a fiction script. It will be woman-oriented, or what is it? Hopefully, it will, I mean, it will have good female characters, but more important than that, it will be entertaining and enjoyable.

Angry Young Men is produced by Salman Khan Films, Excel Media & Entertainment and Tiger Baby. It is executive produced by Salma Khan, Salman Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The three-episodic docuseries is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.