Salim Khan

At 88 years old, Salim Khan has this physical status:

Here, he was spotted by film director K. Amarnath, who was impressed by his good looks and offered him a supporting role in his forthcoming film Baraat. He would be paid Rs.1000/- as a signing amount and a monthly salary of Rs.400/- for the period of shooting. Salim accepted and moved to Mumbai, living in a small rented apartment in Mahim. While Baraat was duly made and released in 1960, it did not do too well, and in any case, his role was a minor one.

Working under the name Prince Salim, he got into the usual 'struggle' situation of wannabe actors, working in minor roles, being typecast as a good-looking supporting actor, and gradually descending into B-grade films. Over the next decade, he acted in what he calls “indifferent roles," playing minor characters in about two dozen films, but so minor were his appearances that his name does not appear on the credits of several of these films; his credits amount to a total of 14 films until 1970, and one final appearance in 1977. These included Teesri Manzil (1966), Sarhaadi Lootera (1966) and Diwaana (1967). His most substantial role, for which he did receive some notice, was in Teesri Manzil, where his role as the hero's friend was a meaty one, and his entry scene got a very good build-up.

After working in 25 films, he eventually understood that he "was not cut out to be an actor because I lacked the art of projection. But by then it was too late — how could I have gone back to Indore?" In the late 1960s, Salim Khan, who was struggling financially, decided to start shifting his focus away from acting and towards writing scripts, and continued to use the name Prince Salim. One of his more notable film scripts was Do Bhai (1969). He also began working with Abrar Alvi as a writing assistant.

Salim met Javed Akhthar for first time during the making of the film Sarhadi Lootera, which was to be Salim's last acting appearance. Javed, who served as a clapper boy when shooting began, was later made the dialogue writer for the film by director S.M. Sagar. Their friendship began while both were working in this film, and developed further because their bosses were neighbours to each other. Salim Khan got a job assisting writer/director Abrar Alvi in finalising screenplays and dialogues, while Javed Akhtar began assisting Kaifi Azmi in a similar capacity, with focus on honing poetry. Abrar Alvi and Kaifi Azmi were neighbours, and therefore Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar used to see a lot of each other. The duo hit it off well and formed a script-writing team that came to be known as Salim–Javed. Salim used to form stories and plots, whereas Javed used to develop the dialogues and occasionally the song-lyrics for those films. They used to brainstorm and come to conclusions regarding the final draft of the film.

Rajesh Khanna is credited with giving them their first break as script writers. Javed Akhtar accepted in an interview that "One day, he (Rajesh Khanna) went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad. But the film was a remake [of Deiva Cheyal] and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit." This was their first break as script-writers, and the film, Haathi Mere Saathi, went on to become a big hit. The Salim–Javed duo were hired by G. P. Sippy to work for Sippy Films as resident screenwriters. They produced the screenplays for several successful films like Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Don. Their first big success was the script for Andaz, followed by Adhikar (1971), Haathi Mere Saathi and Seeta Aur Geeta (1972). They also had hits in Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Zanjeer (1973), Haath Ki Safai (1974), Deewaar (1975), Sholay (1975), Chacha Bhatija (1977), Don (1978), Trishul (1978), Dostana (1980), Kranti (1981), Zamana (1985) and Mr. India (1987). They have worked together in 24 films including two Kannada films – Premada Kanike and Raja Nanna Raja. Of the 24 films they wrote 20 were hits. The scripts they wrote but which were not successful at box office include Aakhri Dao (1975), Immaan Dharam (1977), Kaala Patthar (1979) and Shaan (1980). Though they split in 1982, due to ego issues, some of the scripts they wrote were made into films later like Zamana and Mr. India which became successful. Salim-Javed, many a time described as "the most successful scriptwriters of all-time", are also noted to be the first scriptwriters in Indian cinema to achieve star status.

The Salim-Javed duo were also notable for causing several changes to be made in the way scriptwriters were perceived and treated within the Hindi film industry. Until the 1970s, there was no concept of having the same people write screenplay, story and dialogue. Nor were writers usually named in the credits of the film; junior, struggling writers in particular were simply paid and sent away. Salim-Javed changed this situation. Since their scripts were so successful, they had the power to make demands on film-makers. They not only insisted on being paid much more than what had been the norm until then, but also ensured that their name was on the film credits, and also that they were involved at many stages of the process, including screenplay and dialogues.

While credited under the name "Salim-Javed", the screenplay of Zanjeer was almost entirely written by Salim Khan alone, before bringing Javed Akhtar on board and crediting it under the name "Salim-Javed". Salim Khan was also instrumental in launching the career of Amitabh Bachchan, who was a struggling actor before being discovered by Salim-Javed, who were impressed by his acting abilities and insisted on casting him in the lead roles for their films. Salim Khan was also personally responsible for introducing Bachchan to directors such as Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai.

Salim Khan, after splitting, from Javed wrote script and dialogues for successful movies like Angaaray (1986), Naam (1986), Kabzaa (1988) and Jurm (1990). For Angaaray, Rajesh Khanna asked director Rajesh Sethi to go to Salim Khan and rework on the script he had.

Salim was not very active in films from 1996 as the fold he wrote like Akayla, Toofan and others between 1988 and 1996 flopped. He wrote scripts for thirteen films from 1983 to 1996, after his split with Javed Akhthar. These included Majdhaar and the hit film Patthar Ke Phool which starred his son Salman Khan. Other notable hits were the scripts for Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and Auzaar, both of which were produced by his youngest son Sohail Khan and starred Salman.

His last unofficial partnership with Javed Akhtar was for the film Baghban (2003). Amitabh Bachchan requested to Javed Akhtar to write his final speech. Salman Khan, for his speech prior to that, requested to his father Salim Khan to write his speech. However, neither Salim Khan nor Javed Akhtar were credited.

Source