Javed Akhtar remembers Salman Khan as “very shy, quiet child”, says Arbaaz was “badmaash bachcha”

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 13 (ANI): Legendary screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who attended the trailer launch of the docuseries ‘Angry Young Men’ in Mumbai, went down memory lane and shared how Salman and Arbaaz Khan were as children.

“Our kids told such amazing things about us today. But they were very young and they don’t remember much. We do. When I met Salim Sahab for the first time, Salman wasn’t even one year old. It was 1965.”

Apart from his acting skills, Salman is loved by his fans for his charming looks and the veteran lyricist shared that he was good-looking since childhood.

“Abhi itne handsome lag rahe hain, ye koi abhi ki baat nahin hai, ye bachpan se hi khoobsurat the (He is looking so handsome now, but he has been beautiful since childhood). He was an exceptionally good-looking child.”

He recalled a picture of Khan in the living room of his father Salim Khan’s house. The legendary lyricist shared that all the kids of Salim Khan were born after they became friends.

“Today, Salman is the he-man and this dashing hero but he was a very shy and quiet child who spoke very less. Jo badmaash bachcha tha, woh tha Arbaaz. He was a regular seducer. He would befriend Salim sahab’s friends and build a special relationship with them. Arbaaz doesn’t remember the things he did as a child. When people would mingle with him, he would think ki yeh toh bada kamaal ka bachcha hai.”

He also talked about Arbaaz’s self-love, saying, “ye kanghi karta tha, ek 6 saal ka bacha apni kanghi kar raha hai maine aise dekha nahin kabhi to self-love inka bahut kamaal ka tha (He would comb his hair. I’ve never seen a 6-year-old child combing his hair. So, his self-love has been really great),”

Prime Video will soon come up with a docuseries ‘Angry Young Men’, which explores the formidable creative partnership and legacy of writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.

On Tuesday, the makers unveiled the trailer of the docuseries. In the trailer, celebrities Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar and Jaya Bachchan mark their presence as they talked about the legendary work of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.

The video starts with Salman saying, “This is the first one where I’m actually nervous.”

The video then showcases Javed Akhtar’s filmmaker-actor son Farhan Akhtar adding, “I mean the only reason I knew my dad wrote those films is because he was my dad.” Karan highlighted how Salim-Javed were the highest paid artistes in the film industry, and charged more than the reigning star of the era.

“Can you imagine if a writer today said, ‘I want a crore more than Salman Khan, that was the power of Salim-Javed’,” Karan said.

The video ends with megastar Amitabh Bachchan saying, “Them being together was altogether a different story.”

The documentary’s title Angry Young Men refers to the angry young man hero-type the duo created in the 70s. Salim-Javed played a pivotal role in Big B’s stardom.

Speaking about the docuseries, Salim said, “I started my career in front of the camera but realized that my true strength lay in telling stories. That’s when I decided to focus on what came naturally to me – writing. I then met Javed who was equally passionate about writing, and together we did some fantastic work together, which I am very proud of. We had an excellent run and achieved great success, and also challenged industry norms along the way. It feels wonderful that our journey is being documented for future generations, and I hope they will be inspired to do their best and not be confined by society’s prescribed roles.”

‘Angry Young Men is set to premiere exclusively on Prime Video in India on August 20. Namrata Rao has directed the project.