Salim-Khan and Javed Akhtar, a prominent screenwriting partnership, collaborated primarily in the realm of Hindi cinema. They distinguished themselves as pioneering screenwriters who attained a celebrity status and are esteemed as some of the finest in the industry. From 1971 to 1987, they collaborated on 24 films, with 20 enjoying both commercial success and critical acclaim.
They brought about a major transformation in Indian cinema during the 1970s, revolutionizing the traditional Bollywood formula and pioneering the blockbuster format. Their work marked a significant departure from the previously dominant romance films in Bollywood and led to the creation of cultural phenomena such as the “angry young man” character archetype, the masala film, the Dacoit Western genre, and Bombay underworld crime films.
Their collaboration continued until 1982, after which they parted ways, with Javed Akhtar focusing on writing lyrics for approximately 80 films and scripts for 20 films from 1981 onwards, while Salim Khan wrote 10 film scripts between 1983 and 1996. Despite their split, they are jointly credited on two films, Zamana (1985) and Mr. India (1987), as the scripts for these movies were written before their separation and made into films afterwards. Their films also inspired several remakes in South India, as Salim–Javed retained the remake rights to their work in that region.
Salim-Javed’s films had a significant impact on Indian society during the 1970s and early 1980s, addressing themes such as urban poverty, political corruption, and organized crime that were relevant to the socio-economic and socio-political climate of the time, particularly during The Emergency period. In addition, they also presented progressive, feminist, and anti-establishment themes that resonated with Indian audiences. The duo achieved six Filmfare Awards out of ten nominations during their collaboration. Javed Akhtar mentioned that in their early days, the hard work of script writing and screenplay was not recognized on the cinema posters.
Therefore, Salim and Javed took it upon themselves to paint their names on all the posters in the city, using a rickshaw and a paint bucket to do the work themselves. Additionally, while working together, Salim Khan focused on developing unconventional stories and characters, while Javed Akhtar was responsible for writing the memorable dialogues for their films.
