Salim Khan recently spoke about his collaboration with Javed Akhtar and said that if he were in Amitabh Bachchan's place, he would have asked the duo not to split. The two are known for writing screenplays of blockbusters like Zanjeer (1973), Deewar (1975) and Sholay (1975), all of which starred Amitabh. They abruptly parted ways in the 1980s, sending shockwaves among film fanatics across the industry.
In an interview with NDTV, Salim Khan said that their break-up would have affected Amitabh. "He must have been upset about it. If I were in Amitabh’s place, I would have said that… if Javed saab went to him or I went to him, I would have said that Salim-Javed must stay together. ‘You guys have a good thing going with each other. Why break it up’?” If I were in his place, that’s what I would have recommended, I don’t know what he said.”
He was also asked if he had spoken to Amitabh about this, and he added, “He doesn’t speak much to anybody. He doesn’t get too attached to people.”
The recently released documentary Angry Young Men recounted the story of the two writers, featuring accounts of Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan, and many others from the industry who talked about their films and why they became such major hits. It is directed by Namrata Rao and released on Prime Video on August 19.