Angry Youth: Lessons about money in Salim-Javed’s groundbreaking film

Salman Khan MoviesExcel Films and Tiger Baby Films have hit the nail on the head with a three-episode show on Salim-Javed and their best collaborations in Bollywood. The show will air on Amazon Prime Video from August 20, 2024.

When today’s reel-watching generation sits down to watch Sholay, which runs for 204 minutes (198 minutes in the theatrical release), you wonder how many of them will understand how meme-worthy every line of the film is, how the silence between Jai and Radha is different from the silence between the villagers when they see Ahmad’s dead body and the Imam asks: ‘Why is there so much silence, brother?’

And Sholay is just one of the incredible 24 films that writing duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar have written together. Money lessons What could this charming and revealing documentary bring to you?

The rules of the association

Javed Akhtar says Salim Sahab would bring a story and I would write the dialogues and we would fine-tune everything. There were no fixed rules on who would do what, but a sense of mutual respect would make the collaboration work.

What Salim-Javed had was nothing short of a miracle: a brainstorm and a mad determination to tell the most amazing stories. As an investor, you too need a trusted partner to help you make the most of your money. Yes! investment planner and you should be able to come up with a system that you and they work on to make the most of all the different investment opportunities.

Hunger and poverty are great teachers

Both Salim and Javed left home to make something of their lives when they were just 15 years old. Javed Akhtar admits that he slept in clothing warehouses, parks and train stations because he had nowhere to stay. He often found himself not eating for two days.

He says that when he travels these days, he stays in big suites with big beds and eats fancy meals. But he has a nagging feeling that he is an impostor of this lifestyle. Nothing will ever make him forget the days when he traveled on trains so packed there was nowhere to put his shoulder.

It’s true, hunger teaches us the value of food, just as we learn from our mistakes when we invest badly. But he knows that he was meant to succeed and will never give up. That’s what we should believe too, dear investor. The ups and downs of the market are natural, but if we close up shop and go home, then you won’t be worthy of winning.

Give credit where credit is due

You will smile when you hear Salim Khan speak with righteous indignation about the fact that he is never given credit for the story and dialogues of films. Before ‘Deewar’ was released, they paid a painter who stencilled ‘Written by Salim-Javed’ on each of the film’s posters. Writers were supposed to be humble and not ask for credit. But as Salim Khan says, ‘If the composer who writes a song on a page gets credit, why should the writers, who wrote every dialogue, every plot twist and keep the audience glued for over two hours, not even get a mention?’

At one point, they even asked for a hundred thousand rupees more than the highest-paid actor in the film. Maybe it was arrogance or simply because they were confident that they were delivering quality work. In your investing life, take credit when you manage to find a financial instrument that meets your expectations. And humility is overrated. Take a bow if you are a star!

Pay those who work for you

Salim Khan recalls how someone made him wait outside his office for more than nine hours and then asked him to come back another day. Salim Khan says that on the way home, he swore that he would never treat another human being the same way again. He points out that holy books say that a worker should be paid for his efforts even before the sweat has dried from his body. And that is how it should be.

I am sure, dear investor, that you also have people working for you, either in your office or at home. They all work hard for money. And it is only fair that you also treat them with respect and pay them for services rendered. This will encourage your people to work harder and of course, you will earn points in the big ledger up there in the sky!

The show is beautifully interwoven with personal accounts from family members, colleagues and industry critics. This personal account of a legendary friendship and partnership will make you smile so many times that you will call your best friend just to say hello because, Dostana! Or hug your mother because, Mere paas Ma hai!

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati (an online writers’ forum), organiser of Mumbai’s longest-running open mic and a lecturer on advertising, film and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.