User reviews

Growing up on a steady diet of Salim-Javed films, it was heartwarming to hear folks talk about stories behind these movies.

While many of the facts were known from other interviews, the docu series does a good job of re-presenting the facts, most being narrated by big names in Hindi Film Industry who themselves have at some point in their careers been inspired by these writers.

Every cinema lover deserves to know the story of this writer duo who at one point got paid as much as the lead star in a big budget movie. Their names alone drew audiences into the theaters. I doubt if such feats will ever be repeated again!

Indian films particularly Hindi ones had a great fan following in 1970s and early 1980s. Amongst other factors one of the biggest factors was the phenomenon of AMITABH BACHCHAN and of course SALIM-JAVED-the creators of his "ANGRY YOUNG MAN" image. A film credits saying WRITTEN BY SALIM-JAVED for close to 1.5 decade meant that the film will be dollops of larger-than-life entertainment, dramatic scenes and paisa vasool dialogues. To be fair to the legendary duo they also tackled lost and found, romantic, serious and comedy scenes very well, but it was their angry young man discovery became their ticket to Bollywood history.

Amazon Primes 3 episodic documentary "Angry Young Men" directed by film editor Namrata Rao is a well-made tribute to the brilliant and most popular Hindi film writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. The series is jointly produced by the companies of their sons Salman Khans S. K. Films as well as Farhan Akhtar's Excel entertainment and is a homage to their amazing journey. The series covers a series of interviews of the duo, their families, and inputs by Amitabh Bachchan, Ramesh Sippy, Yash Chopra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra, Aamir Khan, Prem Chopra, Raj Kumar Hirani, Shatrughan Sinha, Yash amongst lot of others. It starts with their childhood, their struggle, their initial individual works, their success, their peak, their arrogance, their fall, their redemption, their breakup and finally their lives as of now.

The show is full on nostalgia, many known facts, some unknown incidents, and re-creates the magic of their blockbusters particularly Deewaar, Sholay, Zanjeer and Don. The failure of Imaan Dharam also is covered very well. The starting animations mixing characters and situations from their films is excellent!! The painful memories of personal loss and financial low by Salim Khan and Javed bring a lump to their fans.

However, there is flip side too, as one feels that there should be 1-2 episode more to discuss more about their other films -Trishul, Shakti, Kaala Pathar, Kranti, etc. Also, total ignorance of films like Majboor and the grand finale Mr. India was surprising. I felt the makers should have touched the success they got after their separation Salim Khan in Naam and Javed in Arjun, Betaab, Meri Jung and later as legendary lyricist. As die-hard fans of the duo who have read a lot about them in last many decades will feel "Hey its good but we already knew most about them already"!

Having said that I cannot deny that I fully loved the series for a celebration of a golden phase of Hindi cinema and for the duo who proved for long that "A film without a good script will fall flat"!!!!

A very interesting documentary on the professional and personal lives of these 2 great writers of many excellent Hindi movies. My 2 main takeaways were that once again extreme arrogance led to their downfall and neither of them till date has singularly been able to replicate their successes they enjoyed when they were together as a pair and perhaps more grounded and much much less arrogant. Furthermore their greatness lies in the fact that till date no single writer or a pr or a bunch of writers has/have been able to come up with such an excellent collection of splendid scripts as Salim Javed have done.

An exceptional series with such details, very well documented and showcased 70/80's era of movie industry was owned by the writer duo and is very necessary to show the great amount of work done for future generations to learn the significance of the writers in the cinema world

Supper happy to see khan and akhtar families in one frame -even though the kid generations have not worked together they make a good screen presnce. They will make a history if they ever happen to work together

Kudos to the directors and producers for creative content and sprites shared , it felt like it was flowing in one directions and very well captured the success and failures stories for the duo

It will be interesting to see how the next season captures the fallout as it is still a big mystery and with everything going good it will be crucial for cinema lovers to know what actually happened in the past

Loved the bits of family stories and directors stories that gave shape to this documentary.

Looking forward to the next season and hats off to the duo and their era they ruled as it changed the game forever.

The duo of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, transformed Indian cinema with their powerful storytelling, complex characters, and memorable dialogues. Their partnership produced several iconic films that redefined Indian film industry and continues to inspire even today.

'Angry Young Men' takes us back to where it all started. Putting this together is commendable work by director. The way I see 3 episodes is just an introduction to Salim-Javed story. We all want more from 'Angry Young Men'.

The scene where Javed sahib tells about his struggle and how it still continues to remind him those days, the pause he takes when he is telling breakfast story,really takes your heart away.

Similarly Salim sahib also tells heart-wrenching storyof his mother and how he was not able to meet her for years, makes you cry.

This series also tries find some connection between their life and why they have written such a great stories. A must watch and should have next season to cover more.

I wrote a review on Medium. "Angry Young Men" By A Woman*: namrata rao, on Amazon Prime Video. 600 characters are not enough for the entire review so I will just put snippets of what I wrote.

Snippet 1: Angry Young Men, The Salim-Javed Story, features two new actors, born out of Nepotism: Javed Akhtar & Salim Khan. The Web-series has been produced by successful families in industry because nobody else would have cast these new unknown actors.

Snippet 2: But, I want to know more about their family, too. Because, I love them. In my entire life, I have never had this experience of feeling, while thinking about a movie or web series, that I am in love with the producers. Weird!

Snippet 3:One just knows when things are beautiful.

GROWING UP ON A STEADY DIET OF SALIM-JAVED FILMS, IT WAS HEARTWARMING TO HEAR FOLKS TALK ABOUT STORIES BEHIND THESE MOVIES.

WHILE MANY OF THE FACTS WERE KNOWN FROM OTHER INTERVIEWS, THE DOCU SERIES DOES A GOOD JOB OF RE-PRESENTING THE FACTS, MOST BEING NARRATED BY BIG NAMES IN HINDI FILM INDUSTRY WHO THEMSELVES HAVE AT SOME POINT IN THEIR CAREERS BEEN INSPIRED BY THESE WRITERS.

EVERY CINEMA LOVER DESERVES TO KNOW THE STORY OF THIS WRITER DUO WHO AT ONE POINT GOT PAID AS MUCH AS THE LEAD STAR IN A BIG BUDGET MOVIE. THEIR NAMES ALONE DREW AUDIENCES INTO THE THEATERS. I DOUBT IF SUCH FEATS WILL EVER BE REPEATED AGAIN!

One of the best documentaries I have watched .

The honest portrayal of these two legends, explaining their lives, their perspective of the world, and their short comings... it's a piece of art, nothing less.

Of course they can't cover everything in three episodes, these men have had a vast life and a matching body of work, personally and professionally. So, the makers have focused mostly on the phenomenal Salim-Javed partnership.

They've delved into the experiences that created them and how their life in that era was subconsciously portrayed in their work.

This series might hopefully be a turning point for writers in Bollywood.

Salim-Javed is a foundational pillar which defined the stylish 70s as we know it. If are a fan of the duo, you would have already known most of the trivia and background stories covered in the 3-espisode mini series. What stood out for me are the following bits: 1) Yeaterday year footage its makers managed to bring back on screen and description of Salim-Javed's individual struggles before their legendary association happened.

2) The opening credit score capturing the funky 70s music and animation 3) screen time allocated to Sholay & Deewaar, given a total of 3 episodes

What I missed out on: 1) More details on some of their less discussed work. This should have been an 8-episode series with dedicated time given to Kaala Patthar, Don, Shaan, Shakti, and Mr. India.

2) More of Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan and Dharmendra footage because that's gold snippets.

3) An episode just on their wild life and parties after they made it big. That aspect was just given a lip service by calling them 'brats' 3) How the other big directors of the time (Prakash Mehra and M Desai) felt about their scripts and why they didn't work more together?

4) How they contributed to making the background music impacting the scenes written by them on camera.

There is much more I wanted to see but hopefully they will release it in parts over next season.

Can't blame a number of people who wanted much more from the series content wise because there is enough material to make some more episodes. As it stands it will be liked by Hindi movie buffs particularly those who have followed the work of this writer duo for many years. The trivia of their professional and personal lives makes for an interesting watch. Stories relating to the making of Zanjeer and Sholay are interesting anytime, anywhere and these have been covered well. How these writers demanded and got a prominent place in billing and greater remuneration than the actor is the stuff of legends. The drastic dip in their career at one time after a number of consecutive blockbusters and their separation makes for an emotional watch.

Director Namrata Rao has presented a collection of interviews of both writers which sends us on a memory trip and is very nostalgic. I feel those in the 60 plus age group are more likely to relate and empathize with the views of the two writers. The series includes some iconic dialogue of their movies which are remembered and quoted even today after many years. The scenes of their bonding together in the last episode is heartwarming.

Seeing Salim Saab and Javed Saab hug each other in the final episode was the most emotional and long-awaited moment of this documentary for me. It felt like watching two old friends reconnect after years. Honestly, it made me feel like I was hugging an old friend too. Thank you so much, Prime Video, for bringing this documentary to life.

As a die-hard fan of Amitabh Bachchan and his "Angry Young Man" movies, this documentary gave me a deep appreciation for Salim-Javed, the duo who created that iconic identity for him.

There are so many powerful moments, life lessons, and philosophies in this documentary. Like the scene where a woman asks Salim Saab to wipe his sweat, and he replies, "Yaha taqdir hoti hai." That one line shows his depth as a thinker and why he became such a legendary writer. Then there's Javed Saab talking about his struggles and sharing how he feels about the simple breakfast he eats now: "Lagta hai ye khana mera nahi hai, kisi aur ka hai." The tears in his eyes as he recalls his mother's passing and not being able to see her even now-those moments were heart-wrenching. And when he says, "Deewar pe sar maar maar ke rasta bana liya," it hits you deeply.

What struck me most was how they handled their separation. Running a successful partnership is tough, but silently parting ways without blaming each other is even harder. That's such a valuable life lesson.

Now, about the documentary itself.

I absolutely loved the intro video. The clay animation, background music, and how they connected scenes from famous movies-it was all just perfect. I've rewatched that intro so many times.

The old photos, video clips, and how they told Salim Saab and Javed Saab's story were so engaging. Bringing in actors, screenwriters, and directors from both the old and new eras to share their memories and emotions added so much depth and weight to the documentary.

If you enjoyed this documentary, don't miss the casual conversation video they've put on YouTube. It's another gem, and I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did.

Nothing new- everything is already covered on old interviews on YouTube.. was expecting science behind writing and exact cause of Split but instead Shabana praising Honey Irani or Helen acknowledging respect which has No Connection to Title and Only Sholay was mentioned prominently instead of Other 20+ movies made together or Dynamics with Big B that made them Famous- Disappointing.

Nothing new- everything is already covered on old interviews on YouTube.. was expecting science behind writing and exact cause of Split but instead Shabana praising Honey Irani or Helen acknowledging respect which has No Connection to Title and Only Sholay was mentioned prominently instead of Other 20+ movies made together or Dynamics with Big B that made them Famous- Disappointing.

There are series, there are movies, and then there are emotions-this documentary rightly falls into the third category. It tells the story of Salim-Javed, a duo that shook the industry for good.

Over the course of three episodes, the documentary chronicles their humble beginnings, their rise to stardom, and their eventual fallout. You'll discover many aspects of their lives that were previously unknown. Their story takes you on a nostalgic journey through the 70s and 80s. Every movie they wrote together is now a cult classic, and there's no doubt that they were, and still are, a force to be reckoned with.

The documentary features interviews with many celebrities and family members who shed light on their lives, drawing you into the narrative and adding authenticity to the series. The conviction they had to tell a story, and the courage to follow their hearts, has brought them to where they are today. The inclusion of their marital lives, which have striking similarities, adds a personal touch to the series.

When Javed Akhtar speaks, you listen and admire his choice of words-he has proven his eloquence time and again through his work. Salim, though rougher around the edges when he speaks, adds a relatable element to the series.

As critics, directors, and stars discuss their body of work, you come to the realization of the legends they truly are. It's true-it's hard to fill their shoes. The Shahenshah of Bollywood continues to entertain us today, in large part thanks to this writing duo. Jaya Bachchan, for a change, appears so grounded and more beautiful than ever in this series. With the inclusion of classic film footage, get ready for goosebumps or a thrill that few series achieve.

The only issue with the series is that you still won't get the exact reason for their fallout. Otherwise, if you love movies-especially Hindi movies-you're in for a treat. It's a must-watch.

#pranureviews #AngryYoungMen #AngryYoungMenReview.

Every film buff knew about Salim -Javed , there works etc.

But this documentary goes deep into lives, there thought process of making stories, there history of childhood, divorce etc etc.

Nunaces of there stories, there thinkings, how each character developed and how it affected the whole generation is very well shown.

It's well made and everyone was speaking truth as per there thinking. Everyone tried to be honest and gave there perspective.

I think it's worth the watch and how the greatest story writers of Hindi Cinema has evolved is very well shown.

Though everyone spoke i missed ms Salma's viewpoints.

Honestly I never knew that these two guys were responsible for almost 60 percent of the best Bollywood movies I ever saw. Salim ji whom I didn't knew about too much is the gem of this show , his basic interaction with camera is a like a life lesson . No doubt Salim and Javed were and most probably will remain the best writer duo to. Onquer entertainment industry. These guys are epitomes for any screenplay story writer and it shows that a writer just had to write and own his creation . The series is short sweet and within 3 episodes tell a wonderful story of these two writers without indulging too much into their kids. Loved it.

Has to be one of the most informative series which is based on Bollywood's history . This show proves how brilliant writing and screenplay can pay you more or equal to the main leads and why not , script and writing is the most crucial thing in a movie .

This surely has come at a very important and tough time for the aspiring writers . In a generation where good writing lacks big time and all the focus is on the big leads and the masala in the movie , we have seen many times that there are people who can make a good written and directed Film successful as well . Salim - Javed were prolific with their work and their fine writing at that time is an example till date .

And nothing beats this .. "Mai Aaj bhi pheke hue paise nahi uthata !!"

If you have seen any of the interviews of Salim sir and javeed sir they have narrated all these stories that are told in documentary already,

The director has access to everything yet she brought out stories which we already knew.

Its just that instead of them narrating the stories they have asked bunch of bollywood stars to fanboy them.

Watch NDTV interview where they both have interviewed together.

Watch lalantop interview of javeed sir Etc interview of Salim sir That's what the content is.

Disappointed, the only thing the director could pull out is some personal birthday videos that's it..

Huge fan of their work disappointed with the content that director brought.

Considering the kind of access the makers of this series had to their subjects, this is a very disappointing effort. There is far more interesting content on Salim-Javed already available on various digital platforms since years. Almost nothing new is said here. The same films that have been discussed ad nauseum are spoken of yet again. Nothing (or almost nothing) on films like Aakhri Dao, Haath Ki Safai, Shakti, Zamana. Really could've/should've been far, far better. My ideal rating would be 4/10. The extra star is only because the subjects themselves are intrinsically such interesting people.

One of the coolest title card I have ever seen!!

This docu-series does total justice to the only writer-stars of Indian Cinema!

Sanctioned fluff sure, mostly focusing on the greatest hits, but revealing when it touches on the personal life and dynamics of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, however brief it might be.

Also reveals how much Bollywood doesn't value writers even now, with some boneheaded comments coming from actors about writers in the final episode.

Beyond the obvious criticism, I feel it could have spent more time focusing on the 'screenwriting' profession in relation to the industry. One of the things it does well is converging and concluding with the discussion on the systematic invisibilization of writers.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

> Kitne aadmi the? Sardar, do aadmi the, Salim aur Javed.