Salim-Javed's family recall day of split, writers reveal why they never shared reason

Salim-Javed

Salim-Javed, the iconic writer-duo ended their partnership one fine day without any explanation. Their decision to part ways came as a shock to the entire film industry as the duo was the brain behind several blockbusters the Hindi cinema had seen back in the day including Zanjeer, Sholay, Don, Treeshul and many more. In the 24 films they worked together on, 22 were blockbusters.

In the docu-series, 'Angry Young Men', which traces the journey of Salim-Javed's iconic pairing, the writers and their respective family members recalled the time of their split.

Recalling the day his father broke the news, Salman shared, "I remember when the partnership broke off, so my dad came home, he was disturbed. So, I was sitting at the dining table, and he said, ‘Javed and my partnership... He wants to break up. So I said, ‘Why? Didn't you say anything?' He said, ‘No'. I said, there's got to be a reason. He said, ‘If he wants to go, he wants to go.' So that's all he said. That's all he said."

Honey Irani, Javed Akhtar's first wife, also shed light on the day Javed broke the news to her. "The only thing I know is that Javed came home one day, and he said that I have some bad news for you. So, I said, what happened? Has he banged the car again? He says, no, I have split with Salim sahab. So, I asked him, I said, why? He says, don't ever ask me," she revealed.

Meanwhile, Farhan shared that his father and Salim saab were more than just friends. "I think they were more than friends. I don't know how exactly to describe it. I think without any emotion, they were like brothers. But they were partners in the true sense. I think that's probably the best way to put it. I'm sure it affected them both in terms of, you know, I mean, although you've done all this great work together, but when you go off and start doing it by yourself, you're again now needing to create an identity just for yourself. So, you're starting from zero. It's not easy," he shared.

What Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar said about the split:

Recalling the split, Javed Akhtar said, "When you start working together, you're new in the business, you don't know many people. You keep each other company. Perhaps, out of 24 hours, we were together for 18 hours. Then I made new friends, and he made new friends, slowly our circles started separating. Our evening meetings stopped, that was also a reason but that was not the major reason. The major reason, according to me, was that the spring of our career was drying up. Fatigue was showing in our work too. No doubt about that."

For years they never shared the reason behind the split that left the industry in shock.

"Yes, we did part ways but we did it in a very civilized way. Normally what happens when people part ways, they throw mud at each other and talk ill. We sometimes argued, we're not perfect but no one is. I'd give my side of the story, he'd give his. So we just never talked about parting ways. Even when people asked us why or how it happened, we said we don't know, we don't like to talk about it. We only speak about the good times we had," shared Salim Khan.