Amitabh Bachchan could have stopped my split with Javed Akhtar, says Salim Khan | Bollywood

Why did Salim-Javed split? The screenwriters had given multiple blockbusters in the course of their screenwriting partnership but chose to part ways without revealing why. Even the new docuseries Angry Young Men does not dwell much on this ground. Now in a new interview with NDTV, Salim Khan has said that if there was anyone who could have stopped their split, that person would be Amitabh Bachchan. (Also read: Angry Young Men review: A heartfelt, fascinating update on Salim-Javed’s legacy)

What Salim said

During the conversation, Salim said, “Jab unhone mujhse kaha ki main alag (films) banana chahta huun, maine kaha thik hai, koi dikkat nahi. Kisiko zabardasti rok nahi sakte. Mujhe toh abhi bhi nahi malum kyun alag hue. Ho gaya toh ho gaya (When he informed me that he wanted to work separately, I said okay, no problem. You can’t force someone to stay. Even now, I don’t know why we separated. It just happened).”

‘Mai hota toh yeh karta…’

Salim added that if he were in the place of Amitabh Bachchan, he would have acted as a mediator and stopped the split. Salim Khan said, “Lekin main agar hota unki [Amitabh Bachchan] jagah… unko [Javed Akhtar] yehi raye deta ‘Maat chodo accha khasa tumhari ek jodi hai, kaam kar raahe ho accha khasa chal raha kahe ke liye isko chodhte ho?’ Mai hota toh yeh karta. (But if I were in Amitabh Bachchan’s place… I would have given Javed Akhtar the advice that, ‘Don’t leave, you have a great partnership, you’re doing well, everything’s going fine, why would you want to end this?’ If it were me, I would have done that).”

After collaborating on 22 Bollywood films, which also included Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Dostana, Seeta Aur Geeta and Mr India, as well as two Kannada films, Salim-Javed decided to split in 1982. Angry Young Men premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 20.