‘Angry Young Men’ docu-series review: Decoding Vijay with Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar

Director Namrata Rao puts the contribution of the iconic screenwriters in perspective in this three-part docu-series on Salim-Javed that is insightful, inspirational, and effusive in parts

An enjoyable and timely study of the genius of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar that generates the warmth and coolth we associate with the screenwriter duo’s work, Angry Young Men, among many things, finds Vijay in his creators’ persona and thoughts.

The docu-series documents how Salim-Javed ushered the age of a writer in Hindi cinema in the 1970s with a middle-class hero who questions authority and seeks to rise the social ladder in no time. A product of their personal lives and political atmosphere, Vijay resonated with the youth anguished with the rising inflation, unemployment, and corruption.

Helmed by Namrata Rao, it discusses the dialogues that exploded like dynamite beneath the seats, the angst in their stories that left a deep impression on the armrests, and the sardonic humour that lit up the darkness of theatres. Speaking on behalf of the working class, the duo mainstreamed dissent when India was on the cusp of change with a series of characters that continue to live on in different forms in Bollywood’s universe.

They had an astonishing strike rate at the box office, with 1975 as the defining year when Deewar and Sholay hit the turnstiles. The series doesn’t speak in absolutes and allows the audience to build an opinion about two charismatic men who sound brash yet vulnerable.

A less-remembered scene in Zanjeer that makes a quiet entry in the middle of the series showcases what the angry young man is all about. An ebullient Mala seeking to build a beautiful home with suspended inspector Vijay shows him a magazine with curtain designs that she intends to put on the windows. Imploding in front of a corrupt system, Vijay remarks, “Yes, we will cover the windows and I would not try to see what’s happening in the world beyond them. I will shut my eyes to the deaths under the wheels of smugglers and if their cries reach my ears, I will shut them and look into your eyes or hide my face in your dark, thick hairs.”

With this scene, that still gives goosebumps, Salim-Javed buried the singing and dancing romantic hero who was constantly on a picnic in the 1960s, and a new, brooding protagonist was born. The series underlines that Zanjeer released in 1973 predates the call for total revolution and the Emergency that followed in 1975. That Salim-Javed were breathing the same air that a common man was inhaling, that both had father issues and could laugh in adversity perhaps ensured that Vijay was fleshed out on screen ahead of the groundswell in society. Similarly, in Deewar, when Vijay says he doesn’t pick up the money thrown at him, he echoes the rejection faced by Salim Javed during their long struggle in the Bombay film industry.

In terms of format, the series follows the new OTT formula that we saw in The Romantics, a gushy take on Yash Chopra followed by Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli but Angry Young Men is a lot more perceptive and engaging without making a show of it.