Salim Khan | |
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 Khan in August 2012 | |
| Born | (1935-11-24)24 November 1935 (age 89) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active |
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| Spouses | |
| Children | 5 (includingSalman Khan,Arbaaz Khan,Alvira Khan Agnihotri,Sohail Khan) |
| Relatives | SeeKhan family |
Salim Abdul Rashid Khan (born 24 November 1935) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter.[1] He wrote the screenplays, stories and scripts for numerousBollywood films. He is one half of the prolific screenwriting duo ofSalim–Javed, along withJaved Akhtar. The duo were among the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status inHindi cinema,[2] and became one of the most successful Indian screenwriters of all time.[3][4] While working together, Salim Khan was largely responsible for developing the stories and characters, whereas Javed Akhtar was largely responsible for developing the dialogues.[5]
Salim-Javed revolutionisedIndian cinema in the 1970s,[6] transforming and reinventing the Bollywood formula, pioneering the Bollywoodblockbuster format,[4] and pioneering genres such as themasala film[7] and theDacoit Western.[8] Salim Khan was also one of the responsible person for creating the "angry young man" character archetype ofAmitabh Bachchan.[9] Their films are among thehighest-grossing Indian films of all time, includingSholay (1975), the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, as well as films such asSeeta Aur Geeta (1972),Zanjeer (1973),Deewaar (1975),Trishul (1978),Kranti (1981), and theDon franchise.Sholay is also considered to be one of thegreatest Indian films of all time.[10][11]
Khan is also known as the founder of theSalim Khan family, as the father of threeBollywood actors,Salman Khan (one of the big threeKhans of Bollywood),Sohail Khan, andArbaaz Khan, and film producerAlvira Khan Agnihotri. He is married to Sushila Charak (a.k.a. Salma Khan)[12] and to actressHelen Richardson Khan.[13]
Salim Khan won sixFilmfare Awards as part of Salim-Javed, and he was later awarded thePadma Shri in 2014.[14]
In 2024,Amazon Prime released a three-part documentary series about the Salim-Javed screenwriting duo,Angry Young Men.[15]
Salim Khan was born in the city ofIndore inIndore State aprincely state inBritish India (modern dayMadhya Pradesh, India) into an affluent family. Khan's grandparents, are believed to beAlakozaiPashtuns who migrated fromAfghanistan to India in the mid-1800s and served in the cavalry of theBritish Indian Army.[16][17] According to Jasim Khan in the biography ofSalman Khan, his ancestors belonged to theAkuzai sub-tribe of theYusufzai Pashtuns fromMalakand in theSwat Valley ofNorth-West Frontier Province,British India (present-dayKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).[18] Khan's family tended to look for employment in government service, and eventually settled in Indore.
Salim Khan was the youngest child of his parents, both of whom died by the time he was 14 years old. His father, Abdul Rashid Khan, had joined theIndian Imperial Police and had risen to the rank ofDIG-Indore, which was the highest police rank open to an Indian in British India. Salim's mother whose name was Siddiqa Bano Khan died when he was only nine years old. She had suffered fromtuberculosis for four years before her death, and therefore it was forbidden for the younger children come close to her or hug her; Salim therefore had little contact with his mother even before her early death. His father also died in January 1950, when he was only fourteen years old. Two months later, in March 1950, Salim (who attended St. Raphaels' School in Indore) appeared for his matriculation examination. He did moderately well, and enrolled in Holkar College, Indore, and completed his BA. His elder brothers supported him with funds drawn from the family's substantial wealth, to the extent that he was given a car of his own while he was a college student. He excelled in sports, especially cricket, and it was for being a star cricketer that he was allowed by the college to enroll for a master's degree at the end of his bachelors. He was also a trained pilot.[19] During these years, he also became enamored of films, and received encouragement from classmates, who told him that with his exceptional good looks, he should try to become a film star.
He worked as a supporting role in filmBaraat directed by K. Amarnath. He would be paid Rs.1000/-(₹88,356.56 rupees in 2023) as a signing amount and a monthly salary of Rs.400/-(₹35,342.64 rupees in 2023) for the period of shooting. Salim accepted and moved to Mumbai, living in a rented apartment inMahim. His brother owned transport trucks in indore and helped him with money. WhileBaraat was duly made and released in 1960, it did not do too well.
Working under the name Prince Salim,[19] 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 includedTeesri Manzil (1966),Sarhaadi Lootera (1966) andDiwaana (1967). His most substantial role, for which he did receive some notice, was inTeesri 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?"[19] In the late 1960s, Salim Khan 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 wasDo Bhai (1969). He also began working withAbrar Alvi as a writing assistant.[20]
Salim met Javed Akhthar for first time during the making of the filmSarhadi Lootera, which was fated 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. The friendship with Javed 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/directorAbrar 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 asSalim–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.[21] 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 [ofDeiva 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."[22] This was their first break as script-writers, and the film,Haathi Mere Saathi, went on to become a big hit.TheSalim–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 forAndaz, followed by Adhikar (1971),Haathi Mere Saathi andSeeta Aur Geeta (1972). They also had hits inYaadon 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) andMr. India (1987). They have worked together in 24 films including two Kannada films –Premada Kanike andRaja 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 likeZamana andMr. India which became successful. Salim-Javed, many a time described as "the most successful scriptwriters of all-time",[23] are also noted to be the first scriptwriters inIndian cinema to achieve star status.[2]
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 ofZanjeer was almost entirely written by Salim Khan alone, before bringing Javed Akhtar on board and crediting it under the name "Salim-Javed".[9] Salim Khan was also instrumental in launching the career ofAmitabh Bachchan,[9] 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.[24][25] Salim Khan was also personally responsible for introducing Bachchan to directors such asPrakash Mehra andManmohan Desai.[9]
Salim Khan, after splitting, from Javed wrote script and dialogues for successful movies likeAngaaray (1986),Naam (1986),Kabzaa (1988) andJurm (1990). ForAngaaray, 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 includedMajdhaar and the hit filmPatthar Ke Phool which starred his sonSalman Khan. Other notable hits were the scripts forPyaar Kiya To Darna Kya andAuzaar, both of which were produced by his youngest sonSohail Khan and starred Salman.
His last unofficial partnership with Javed Akhtar was for the filmBaghban (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.[26]
Khan has been married twice. His first marriage was to Salma Khan (born Sushila Charak), a Hindu, on 18 November 1964. Both of Charak's parents were Hindu: while her father, Baldev Singh Charak, hailed from Jammu, her mother wasMaharashtrian.[27] Khan and Salma have four children together; three sons,Salman,Arbaaz andSohail, and one daughter,Alvira. In 1981, Khan married actressHelen Richardson, a Christian whose father wasAnglo-Indian and mother wasBurmese. Some years later, they adopted a girl named Arpita, daughter of a homeless woman who died on aMumbai footpath.[28][29]
Khan's eldest son,Salman, is one of the most commercially successful actors of Indian cinema. His other two sons,Arbaaz andSohail, are also actors and film producers. His elder daughterAlvira is married to former actor and film-makerAtul Agnihotri, while his younger daughter Arpita is married toAayush Sharma, grandson ofSukh Ram, a formerMinister of Himachal Pradesh and long-time member of theCongress party. The couple had their first child, a boy, on 30 March 2016.[30] His son,Salman Khan, describes him as a big fan ofKazi Nazrul Islam and is said to have read most of his poems.[31]
| Filmfare Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | Film | |
| 1983 | Best Screenplay | Shakti (1982) | |
| 1976 | Best Dialogue | Deewaar (1975) | |
| Best Screenplay | |||
| Best Story | |||
| 1974 | Best Screenplay | Zanjeer (1973)[33] | |
| Best Story | |||
Sholay (1975) was ranked first in theBritish Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time.[11]
Salim Khan, scriptwriter and father ofSalman Khan, remembers theAfghan tribe his family historically belongs to. "It isAlakozai," he says. "My family came to Indore 150 years ago, and worked as [part of the] cavalry in the time of the British." Salman Khan is a fifth-generation Khan in India.
Superstar Salman Khan is a Pashtun from the Akuzai clan...One has to travel roughly forty-five kilometres from Mingora towards Peshawar to reach the nondescript town of Malakand. This is the place where the forebears of Salman Khan once lived. They belonged to the Akuzai clan of the Pashtun tribe...
Salim had decided to cut down on his acting assignments in order to concentrate on writing. InDo Bhai, he was credited as Prince Salim. During this period, he joined Abrar Alvi as a writing assistant.
JA: I write dialogue in Urdu, but the action and descriptions are in English. Then an assistant transcribes the Urdu dialogue into Devnagari because most people read Hindi. But I write in Urdu. Not only me, I think most of the writers working in this so-called Hindi cinema write in Urdu
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