The iconic partnership of Salim-Javed, which gave Indian cinema blockbuster movies like Sholay, Zanjeer, Deewar, Don, and many others, broke up in 1982. This moment changed the landscape of Hindi cinema, as Javed Akhtar went on to work as a lyricist for Hindi songs, while Salim Khan worked as a solo screenwriter for a few films till 1996, after which he stopped working altogether.. The duo never got back to work on any other movie.
Javed Akhtar initiated the decision to split, but Salim Khan accepted it maturely without causing any friction in their relationship. However, a heartbreak was inevitable for Salim Khan, and it was Salman Khan, who was a child then, and he saw it through his own eyes.
While speaking on the Amazon docu-series Angry Young Man, which was released last August, Salman Khan opened up about hearing first about Salim-Javed’s break-up from his father and how disturbed he looked at that time. “I remember when the partnership broke up. Dad came home, and he was disturbed. I was sitting at the dining table in the hall, and he told me that they were breaking the partnership. When we asked why, he said, Javed sahab must have had his reasons,” Salman Khan said.
Salman Khan also opened up on the downfall of Salim-Javed. He said there was a time when the telephone at his home rang all throughout the day, and there were times when they had to switch it off. But then, there also came a phase when the phone was silent throughout the day, and they wondered if the phone was dead.
Speaking on the moment when their careers went downhill, Javed Akhtar said that he and Salim never understood the value of goodwill, and they eventually had to pay for it. He said they had given super hit films like Trishul and Don, both of which were golden jubilee films. However, there was no lineup of producers outside their doors despite such a fantastic record.
Salim Khan, too, spoke up on this, hinting that success probably got into their heads, eventually leading to their downfall and then their separation. “Success has destroyed more people than failures. Success can go to your head, and you can start making wrong decisions,” Salim Khan said in one of the episodes of Angry Young Man.
However, despite their separation, Salim-Javed never spoke ill of each other behind their backs. The two continued to have a warm relationship, and their families also have cordial relations.
