Random Musings

I loved the series, Angry Young Men, the story of the most successful and creative writer duo of Hindi cinema, Salim-Javed.

I do consider myself as that amateur student of cinema, always intrigued by the “story behind” the film.

More than actors – who get most of the adulation – I have always been an admirer of the film directors. And wondered about how they came up with the concept, how they put the whole concept together, how they got the symphony working, along with the actors and the various crew, that come together to create the final product that we go to the cinema house and enjoy.
So, from Yash Chopra to Guru Dutt to Sanjay Leela Bhansali to Ashutosh Gowarikar to Farhan Akhtar to Raj Kumar Hirani to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Raj Kapoor and so many more, these directors have always been the ones who intrigued and inspired me the most.
And when it came to success, one of the things that I could always connect success to, was how the film (and the director) managed to relate to the times that the country was going through then. Whether Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor with a sense of socialism and focus on the early years post independence, or the patriotism that Manoj Kumar’s films brought together, the feel-good family times that Sooraj Barjatya brought out, or a new generation rebellion of sorts that Farhan Akhtar brought in with Dil Chahta Hai for example.

So, for that connect to the times, so far I had only credited the director. After seeing this series on Salim-Javed, I now appreciate the tremendous role that writers played (or at least Salim-Javed did) in bringing out that relevance and connect to the times.

I most certainly had a lot of respect for this duo, but seeing this series brought out more details, about the long years of struggle, about their arrogant confidence, about their overall body of work, about their diligence to their craft.. my deep admiration for them only grew a notch more!

And it was nice to see and hear conversations around some of my favourite films, like Sholay, Deewar and others. Having seen Sholay so many times, having read the book on the making of Sholay, there were still so many new nuances to discover about the film.

Overall, my kid-like awe around films and filmmakers only grew further after seeing this series and I continue to be amazed by the overall creative process and the teamwork that goes into making the entertainment that we enjoy so much!