01x03 - Episode 3

[bunniefuu]

This is Javed Saab's family.

This is his whole world.

Pan to

Talking about Javed,

I'd like to say

when he sits somewhere,

you can't get him to move.

No one can dare try.

She doesn't know how to do it.

Should I write a good song?

Okay. I'll do it.

This show is about him

being a writer, right?

That aspect of his professional life

everybody is kinda aware of.

But, what probably people are not

very enlightened about

is what he was, or is,

as a human being and as a father.

Hell hath no fury like

Salim Khan scorned!

One look! And he never beat us up

or anything like that.

He didn't need to do that.

All he had to do was,

you know, just stare at us.

And you know we needed to

mop the floor and all that.

You should've heard Arbaaz

sing as a child.

His singing teacher sang

like this

- Who chose him?

- We realised later

You could've got a good

music teacher for me.

But you chose someone

with a nasal tone!

Children can only learn

what their parents teach them.

[Zoya Akhtar] Any message for

Pa's 77th birthday?

Yeah. Happy Birthday, Pa!

Pa, you're going to turn 77,

what are your feelings?

77?

Okay, 77.

Happy birthday!

Remember when you were 12

years old and you were in college,

anybody who was 22

was ancient.

And when you were 20,

30 was ancient and so on.

Old age moves ahead,

walks ahead of you by 10 years.

So, I feel

Pa, this was supposed to be

a quick conversation.

- This is becoming a lecture.

- When I'll be 87

I'll be an old man. And there are

only 10 years left.

Happy birthday, dear Jadu!

"Without hiding our faces,

or bowing our heads, we lived.

"We looked at tyrants

in the eye, we lived."

"Little does it matter

if we live a night less

"As long as we live keeping

the flame alight"

At least one of you,

sit over there.

If you want to listen

to my interview, stay.

You seem interested.

Salim saab and I,

actually, we were never

equals in a way.

In work, yes.

Otherwise our relationship

was one of a younger and older person.

He was like an elder brother to me.

My sister-in-law, Salma,

Salim saab's wife -

in a way they had played

a parent's role in my life.

Honey was a very good friend of mine.

Javed suggested her name

during the casting of Seeta aur Geeta.

They soon became excited

about their relationship.

Honey Irani's mother told him:

"I don't like you coming here

every day, better marry her."

Salim saab said

You need two witnesses to get married.

I replied: "There's you. Obviously.

I'd choose no one else."

He said: "Don't make me a witness."

I asked why.

"All the marriages

I've been a witness for

"have fallen apart."

I am not a superstitious person at all.

So I said: "No, no, I don't believe

in all that.

"You will be my witness."

But then he proved to be right.

We used to go to the movies

together.

We needed entertainment because

we were working so hard

and the wives were shopping.

Birthday parties, this, that,

and the other, going for picnics.

They used to have these

cricket matches, you know,

Salim and Javed.

So all families taking

their food and all that,

kids and everyone going there

and playing cricket.

With their caps and cricket

batting pads.

Those were great days!

Nice!

All my memories of

time spent with other children,

hugely involved spending time,

especially with Sohail and Alvira.

Salman and Arbaaz were older

than I was.

So as much as I wanted

to hang out with them,

I don't think they wanted

to hang out with me.

I was like a proper kid-kid,

like, just running around

doing stupid things

like eating grass.

You know what I'm saying?

That kind of nonsense.

It was just like,

everybody was like family.

Anyone could go to anyone's house.

Farhan and Zoya -

I've taught them how to cycle.

I was just like kind of struggling

and I remember,

Salman is like,

"Just go for it!

"Nothing is going to happen. You'll fall.

"Then you'll get up and you'll go again."

And it's something that stays, you know.

Salman used to ride his bicycle

on the parapet nearby.

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And you let him do that?

No. When I saw him, I got angry,

and stopped him.

All that mischief took place

in secret.

Even today many things are done

in secret!

They used to have one sitting room

there and,

they used to have a lot

of fun working.

We could hear them laughing

and people walking in and

lunches and they used to have drinks.

And the house was open

all throughout the night.

They had a blast.

And they really, really enjoyed their work.

Kiddo, I'm the headmaster

of the pickpockets' school.

There's something more valuable

than money in my wallet.

It's not easy stealing it from me.

Perfect your skills elsewhere!

Go!

They gave a line of blockbusters.

So, even the minor movies like

Haath ki Safai,

but for another writer, I'd say:

"Wow! He also wrote Haath ki Safai."

For Salim-Javed you'd say:

"Okay, Haath ki Safai"

Because their other films

were bigger hits.

So it got underlined because their

body of work was so immense -

so huge that even a lesser film,

but a successful film was counted as

"Not that great."

They wrote very well. They were

confident about their writing.

But the film industry works

in a particular way.

And you have to maintain

some diplomacy.

And they were unwilling

to do that.

With the hits, hits, hits, hits.

It starts getting to you.

Starts going to your head.

I found them very arrogant at times.

Extremely arrogant.

Which I think also

somewhere affected their judgement

of scripts.

Because they started feeling

that: "We can't do anything wrong."

"We're perfect. We know exactly

the pulse of the audience."

"We know what they want."

And that's what happened

to Immaan Dharam.

You've sworn on these sacred books

and yet lied.

Today swear on these same books

with total honesty and make

a genuine promise

that you'll never lie again.

I remember my father telling me

when they saw the film:

"We made a big mistake."

"At the interval point,

they swore never to lie."

"That's where the film was over."

- We swear.

- Yes, we swear.

We'll die but we will never lie.

One adds a little salt to dough,

so the bread is tastier.

The mistake we made in Immaan Dharam

was relying too much on salt,

the bread became all salt!

Take this Holy Gita.

As long as we hold these

sacred books in our hands,

so what if we die.

When writing Immaan Dharam,

were you trying to experiment?

That didn't work?

No, no, we weren't trying

to experiment at all.

Maybe if we had, the picture

would've worked!

Sometimes you do make mistakes.

There's a saying: "The best swimmer

can also drown in water".

They had put out an ad saying,

this is our answer to all critics

and criticism, etc.

And it fell flat on its face

because it was one of

the biggest flops of that decade.

And it also had Amitabh Bachchan,

it had Salim-Javed.

What more do you want?

And yet it flopped.

People here are happier

at your failure

than they are at their success.

Okay?

Of course when Immaan Dharam

didn't run,

there were people celebrating.

Parties were thrown.

Champagne flowed.

And the most upsetting thing was

the community that benefited

the most were the writers.

They were celebrating.

"Good! It bombed."

It did annoy people that

all their pictures were hits.

People said: "They think they're gods!

And then how they used

to provoke people.

So naturally you wouldn't want

"Good. They deserve a flop.

That'll bring them to their senses."

You know that kind of a thing.

That was bound to happen.

Ten films in a row were hits.

You can count the ten titles,

if you want.

After that one film didn't do well.

Then again ten films in a row

did well.

It was the first caper movie

of its kind in Hindi cinema.

It had a different kind

of screenplay.

The audience could not budge

from their seats.

We held their attention.

The plot had constant

twists and turns.

I can't tell who appreciated it

- I know the film was a big hit -

but how many people noticed that

but how many people noticed that

the usual anchors in the story

such as emotions were missing?

"Try to understand me, Ma."

There was no such tropes.

No scene where the hero

is praying to God.

In the subplot involving Pran's kids -

we had the opportunity to emotionalise

those scenes, we didn't.

We did not sacrifice the film's tempo.

We did not sacrifice the film's tempo.

The story kept moving forward.

There were two very different

characters.

One was that very suave Don.

The way he managed himself,

his clothing, his attitude.

He had a swag.

But the other fellow

was from the streets.

And then while this character has

now decided to play the Don,

to convert back into this swag

was very interesting as an actor.

Lovely challenge.

I was a huge Bachchan fan.

I loved his movies.

When I saw Don, I remember

actually getting scared.

When you see that initial part

of the film

where he's the bad guy.

Like he's so threatening.

When I was toying with this idea

of wanting to do

the remake of Don,

was predominantly to give more life

to the character

of the first 15 minutes of that film.

Don.

We grew up watching Hindi films,

I think Don was one of those films

which

We grew up watching Hindi films,

I could become an actor

and do something in life.

Very few people get the opportunity

to revisit a pleasant childhood memory.

The chance to relive an entire film.

It's like you've grown up

watching that movie

and oh my God!

I mean it's a small part,

it's a special part.

And of course like I mean, she gets k*lled

in the film and everything.

And a mainstream actor

doing that part -

Everyone was like:

"Yeah, are you sure?"

I was like - you know what,

I really want to do it

because I want to be part of Don.

Salim-Javed wrote parts, of course,

for the angry young man

but they also had strong women

characters.

They might have had lesser

screen time

than the hero of the film,

but they were very impactful.

Look, don't misbehave with me!

Put that medicine back

and get out from here!

We didn't write women-oriented films.

Maybe because we didn't spend

a long time within a family.

Our lives were like living

in an all-boys club.

But the women characters

in our films,

take any of our films,

they are not namby-pamby women.

They are strong women.

They are professional. They work.

Promising backgrounds

to those characters.

But the moment they enter

the protagonist's plot,

the hero's plot, they become

inconsequential.

At best they become foils.

By the way, Mr Shekhar,

we've spoken a lot about

women's liberation.

I mean the Hema Malini

character in Trishul,

she's an independent CEO,

running a company of construction

that means she's absolutely

in the business.

What does she do?

She sings some wonderful songs.

She adds a bit of humour and vivaciousness

to the proceedings

and thank you very much.

When it comes to key plot

turning points - no way!

But again that is the time

they were writing in.

If you see like Seeta aur Geeta,

it's Hema Malini's character

who is the lead

and to do that in, I don't know,

early 70s

All their women were

strong characters.

They all had agency.

They all were independent.

Yeah, it's not about whether the women

had big roles or small roles,

it was how the women were written.

- Were they relevant?

- Were they well-rounded?

May I ask you what made you

send me flowers?

Because I wanted you to call me.

May I ask why you wanted me

to call you?

Because I want to meet you.

Dostana was one of your only films

which was slightly fluffy.

Yes. That's true.

Our craft shows in that film.

It has less passion and emotion.

There was nothing wrong

with the screenplay.

But when you talk about our older

movies like Deewaar or Trishul,

Sholay or Zanjeer,

the fire in those films was missing

in Dostana.

And also, I'm sure as the angry young man

got bigger and bigger

and bigger, then you know

how do you find new ways to retell

the angry young man or

what does he have to be angry about now?

You know so I think eventually

the greatest sort of artistic flourishes

become formulaic.

- Listen, Ravi.

- Yes, Vijay?

Did you get it?

The girl's made a fool of us.

Got it.

- She didn't own that car.

- Got it.

Shaan made a lot of money,

it was a hit.

Because the film had a lot of content.

Many good things in the film.

But it kept getting compared to Sholay,

so people felt it wasn't as good.

It's crazy! Same team,

same two writers,

virtually the same cast.

And not one memorable scene,

not one memorable line.

The bald head of Shakaal -

very nice by itself, but

compared to the earthy dialogue

of Sholay,

not not that.

You people think

that you can give me

some new information

that I am unaware of

They did exactly the same thing

as Sholay.

It was the same template,

but they urbanised the whole thing.

And that didn't work at all.

If you've climbed up and made sure that

you're on a pedestal,

then when you come down,

it's going to be that much harder.

That's what happened when their films

didn't do well.

They bore the brunt of that a lot,

because of their overconfidence and their

We call it overconfidence,

they were confident.

But the world does not think like that.

They called it arrogance.

One thing that, perhaps,

I must say in all honesty,

Salim-Javed did not realise the value

of goodwill.

It was a mistake we made.

When they get the chance,

the world will punish you.

So did you get punished?

Yes, I think so. We had given

two super-duper hit films.

Don

and Trishul.

Both of them were golden jubilee films.

And then there was no line of producers

standing at our doors. No.

Success has destroyed more people

than failure has.

It's a fact. Success can go

to your head.

And many times you start making

wrong decisions.

You start showing attitude.

You have to control that.

You have to see that it doesn't

happen to you.

The phone used to keep on ringing.

He'd say: "Turn it off. I'm getting disturbed".

So the phone used to be

off the hook.

Then came a time,

he'd say: "Check the phone!

Is the line dead?"

And nobody called.

Definitely the trade started feeling

something was not quite right.

And then suddenly one day

they say:

"We are not together."

Of course it shook the industry.

Definitely. Because it wasn't

as if they were only

working for themselves.

They were delivering hit after hit.

So producers' lives were

being made because of them.

Directors' lives, stars' lives.

Distributors all over India, their lives.

Cinema-owners used to wait

for Salim-Javed films.

Now if that team is no longer a team,

of course, it's not going

to be the same.

We just got to know that they have split.

No explanations were given.

There were speculations.

But

It was a statement and that's it.

The doors were closed.

The only thing I know is

Javed came home one day,

and he says: "I have some bad news for you."

I said: "What happened?

Have you banged the car again?"

He says: "No, I have split with

Salim saab."

So I asked him. I said: "Why?"

He says: "Don't ever ask me that."

That was it.

I remember when the partnership

broke up,

so

Dad came home, he was disturbed.

I was sitting at the dining table

in the hall and he said:

"Javed and my partnership is er,

he wants to break off."

I asked: "Why? Didn't you say

anything?"

He said: "No"

He was telling my mom.

"It wasn't that I was walking

to his house,

"and Javed was standing in the balcony,

and he didn't like my walk.

"Or the track pants I was wearing -

he didn't like them.

"He must have his reasons.

"If he wants to go, he wants to go."

So that's all he said.

That's all he said.

When you start working together,

you're new in the business,

you don't know many people,

so you keep each other company.

So perhaps in 24 hours,

we were together for 18 hours.

Then I made new friends,

he made new friends,

and slowly our circles started separating.

Then our evening meetings stopped.

That was a reason too.

But that was not the major reason.

The major reason, according to me,

was that the spring of our careers

was drying up.

Fatigue was showing in our work too.

No doubt about that.

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,

and so would he.

We just never talked about

our parting.

Even if someone asked

why or how we parted -

we said we didn't know.

We don't like to talk about it.

We only speak about

the good times we had.

I, for one, was

was very sad that it happened.

And even though I had

the opportunity to work with

Salim saab and Javed saab,

separately, even after

they had parted ways.

but yes, them being together

was an altogether different story.

Destiny, darling. It's destiny.

They say there's a shelf-life, an expiry date.

That's how it is.

Everything in life has

that kind of cycle which -

very rarely does it last forever

and

you feel for it also because

it ended. It should not have ended.

Amazing times.

Short, but amazing.

I mean cinema history without this chapter

Dad used to really love Javed saab.

And

he was dad's closest friend.

I think they were more

than friends. You know

I don't know how exactly to describe it,

I think without getting too emotional

and saying there were like brothers,

you know what I'm saying?

But they were partners in the true sense.

I think that's probably

the best way to put it.

You know there were things

like Salim telling me -

he used to go to the races.

And he said that: "I always

would buy the jackpot ticket.

"And I had it in my mind

that if I ever won the jackpot,

"it would be Salim-Javed

won the jackpot."

Did the split change the family equations?

To a certain degree, I mean

of course, it did have an effect,

because you realise

something is not the same.

But, at no point,

did I ever feel like I can't go there.

At no point did anybody say

that listen now we are -

you know there was

none of that stuff.

But I mean you knew

that something has changed.

I mean obviously the energy about it

was not the same.

But there was one -

which you can say

light at the end of the tunnel

for us as a family.

And that was to some extent

we got our father back.

And what I mean is that,

when we were too young

either we were in school by the

time my dad used to wake up,

or when we used to come back,

he was at work.

So we missed him when

we were much younger.

And when the spilt happened,

that made him spend

a lot more time at home.

And that's where I think

the real bonding happened between

him and us.

I'm sure it affected them both

in terms of

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.

So when we parted ways,

there was this story I wrote.

And Arbaaz asked:

"Can I come and hear the narration?"

I felt that my children wanted to see

how capable a writer their

father was, individually.

Will we die of hunger now?

Till the time we were together,

the story lines were usually his.

We'd write the screenplay together,

and I'd write the dialogue.

When I was on my own,

I had to do everything:

story, screenplay, dialogue.

And it happened quite a few times

with me,

that a producer gave me

a huge signing amount,

asking me to write a script.

I had that much credit in the industry.

They assumed my writing would be okay.

And now I'm thinking of an idea,

it's not coming to me.

So, why don't I leave the city?

Run away and change my name

to Shyam Sunder or anything.

Find some kind of job.

And tell no one I was,

or am, a writer.

I could start life afresh.

It must have been a tough time for you

because you had parted ways,

and your marriage was also

breaking up around the same time.

So Honey is one person in the world

towards whom I feel guilty.

And she is the only person.

60 to 70 percent responsibility

lies on my shoulders

for the failure of that marriage.

If I had as much understanding

as I have today,

perhaps things would not

have gone wrong.

It's very difficult to accept.

But that's how it is.

There was a phase when

I was angry with him.

I felt betrayed by him.

You know there was all

those very normal emotions

that I did go through

as a child growing up.

After the split happened,

we lived with our mother.

So we ended up spending

more time with our mother.

But yeah, it took time to go

back to normal - I think with my dad

and I think Shabana played a

big part in creating that normalcy.

In any relationship,

which is a triangular relationship,

it is very personal

and it's very painful

and especially when there are children involved.

And it becomes more hurtful because

people are so quick to pass

judgement and to say:

"She's a home-breaker!

She's a home-destroyer!"

And things like that.

Obviously, I wanted to

explain my point of view,

but then I figured if I did that

I would end up hurting

far too many people.

And so wisdom lay in keeping

quiet and not explaining myself

and getting the brickbats

which obviously I would get.

And I give huge credit to Honey.

I give huge credit to her,

because see

she could've very easily filled

the children

with tales against me.

She just didn't do that.

She gave them the security

that you do not have

to consider her an evil stepmother.

She and I have a very warm

and a really nice relationship.

And I'm very grateful. Because

we were all very graceful.

All three of us were graceful,

but she, above all.

She had the most to give

and she gave that.

I guess what had to happen

happened.

But, one thing I'll definitely say is that

we're still very good friends.

I mean I think we are the

best friends now. Yeah.

So I mean I know he's there

for me whenever I need him.

And he knows that I'm there for him,

whatever he does.

However many accidents he has!

But yeah.

And the kids are there

and they're perfect with them,

even Shabana has been very nice.

Come.

- I'll see you.

- Aunty is leaving.

Where are you going?

Have lunch and go.

It'll take time.

- Sit for a while.

- Okay.

So do you remember when you met Salim saab

for the first time?

So we were sh**ting

for this film, Kabli Khan.

And guess what? He was the villain

and I was the heroine.

Can't imagine Salim saab

as a villain!

And they gave him that funny hat,

that Napoleon type of hat.

And I used to have my own chair

with Helen written at the back

and some books.

But we never used to converse

with each other.

The first time I really

met him was in Don.

After the day's sh**t,

Helen would come over.

She'd have a glass of wine

or a glass of beer,

then she'd leave.

How did you fall in love?

If you've fallen in love,

you'd know.

Those who haven't - won't know.

My mom never ever influenced us to

have or say anything against our father.

You know she had her troubles,

but she never ever influenced us

like your dad is like this,

or this is what he is doing.

Never.

I first called all my children

and discussed it with them.

I told them about the situation.

I said: "You may not understand now,

"but when you grow up,

you'll understand everything.

"I am in love with Helen aunty,

she's there.

"I know that you cannot love her

as much as your mother,

"but I want the same respect

for her."

We still call her aunty.

You know because she was

Helen aunty at that time,

so we still, you know

though we treat her as a mother,

but we call her Helen aunty.

Today obviously she's a part of our life.

And when she's not there,

each one of us makes it a point

to find out where she is.

More than us, it's my mom

who says: "Call Helen.

"The food is ready."

Or we have to go somewhere

or attend some festival.

She's a part of everything.

I mean they don't have to care

for me or love me or anything.

But the respect and the love

I get, it's unbelievable.

Love is rooted in respect.

The day you lose respect,

love is over.

The day it's over: "Goodbye!

You're dead to me."

Then?

"Where there was a wall yesterday,

you see a door today.

"It was time of the crazy lover

you see."

You may feel at first you're banging

your head against a wall.

Then by constantly hammering

on that wall again and again,

you make a way through -

a door is made.

I feel many people in this world

could have become writers.

They did not make it because

in the early demoralising period of struggle,

they had given up.

If they had stuck with it

a little longer,

tolerated the humiliation,

kept at it single-mindedly,

they would have found a clearing

in the path ahead.

But they didn't get to the clearing.

If I was asked what helped me

most in my writing,

I would say reading.

These are the screenplays of

very well-known films.

This Land Is Mine.

This is Pearl Buck's story:

The Good Earth.

If I was to advise writers

about what they should do,

I'd say "Read".

That's all.

I've never come across

better teachers than Salim-Javed,

just by watching.

They're not even teaching us.

But just by watching their screenplays

unfold on a screen.

I think initially I didn't get it.

How do I start in this industry?

It takes time to navigate the maze.

Especially for writers because we

do not have faces that go out there.

Nobody asks who's the writer

of the film.

Like it's mostly the director only.

There are so many directors

who are not

talking about their writers at all.

Or they say: "I and my writer

are writing this".

Why are you and your writer

writing this?

Why is your writer not writing it?

Right?

People actually believe

in filmmaking - the story

is a minor element.

It's nothing. I told you

the story, now develop it.

Somehow people don't think

it is an art.

People think it is just

an ordinary,

whatever, ordinary talent

of observation.

The writer has written it.

But that "written it"

is as if he has merely

transcribed it, or he's typed it out.

From my first film to my last film,

everyone keeps telling me that

this is the highest

we've ever paid any writer.

"You're an artist. You should not think

about money."

Of course, so ensure it

that I don't think about money!

I've reached that point

where I'm like fine,

you want to commission me?

We can have an ethical

working relationship

where I get paid on time,

I'll write for you.

But, even that expectation is not

fulfilled most of the time.

So, at any given point of time,

I've had to work like 3

to 4 other jobs.

You want to be a writer,

you need another profession

that'll pay the bills.

Or you need to be really rich.

Or if you have money,

invest that money well, okay?

When you devalue the writer,

then the writer, in quest of power,

wants to become a director.

So what happens is that many

good writers have been lost to

mediocre direction.

And the writer can only be given

power

by taking a little of the power

away from the stars.

Because there is a law

of constancy of power.

You really can't create it. You have

to take what the others have.

If you're saying he should be

the highest paid in the project,

that should happen and is possible.

Then they'd have to be big stars

like Salim-Javed were.

Can you name a single writer today

whose name alone draws

the audience?

Writing needs to become

aspirational.

And I have been saying this

on my own accord.

I keep mentioning Salim-Javed,

because after them, you know,

we don't have superstar writers.

We don't have writers who

help a child aspire to want

to be a writer.

Looking back, are you content

with your life?

I'm very highly contented.

What else do you want from life?

The most important thing is

that your children respect you,

and listen to you. All that.

Do you regret anything?

No, I don't have any regrets

or feel any guilt.

Nothing like that.

When I look back,

there's nothing I'd like to redo.

Never felt that.

The light has softened.

The first published collection

of my poetry

carries a quote by Krishan Chander

on the first page.

"What have you achieved

in your life?

"Did you love someone

with all your heart?

"Did you give wise counsel

to a friend?

"Did you look at the child

of an enemy

"with love in your eyes?

"Where there was darkness,

did you bring a ray of light?

"In all the time that you have lived

"what has been the meaning

of your life?"

- [Avinash Gowariker] Uncle, I'm going to swap chairs.

- Yes, that's fine.

Please don't get up.

There's no need.

- Come, sit.

- Please, you sit.

You'll just do whatever you want,

I'll keep clicking.

This is the body language I want.

Both of you just looking into

my lens.

Don't scare me, sir!

You're the director, we'll have to

do as you say.

- After all, this is your last wish.

- Hold it! Fab.

I'm perched at the edge of my seat

as if I were asking for a job.

Why don't you just let him

grab my neck?

He's saying: "Just go for his neck."

Superb!

Very good. Touch wood!

This one was very good.

I didn't expect this one

to turn out so well.