NOTED Bollywood screenwriters Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar who wrote 1975 blockbuster Sholay and came together after a long time for the trailer launch of its 3D version, said in Mumbai on Thursday (November 7), that every character in the movie is “immortal”.
“Sholay is a masterpiece. It’s a moment of nostalgia and sweetness to revisit things. I saw the film after more than 30 years and wish we could understand the magic that was created. Every character in Sholay is immortal. Sholay doesn’t belong to us – we belong to Sholay,” Javed Akhtar said.
He said that though every character in the movie was memorable, the iconic role of ‘Gabbar Singh’ was the one which everyone wanted to play.
Salim Khan said that there were differences of opinion between the two of them when they had scripted the movie.
“It is good to work with people who are different from each other. Difference of opinion is good. We used to convince each other, whenever any of us had any differences of opinion,” Khan said.
The writer duo, better known as ‘Salim-Javed’, said that they felt Sholay’s climax was right, though there were a few people who had expressed displeasure over it.
Grandson of producer G P Sippy who produced the original movie, Sasha Sippy, expressed hopes that its 3D version would be well received by today’s viewers.
“We wanted to create a new experience and give value to audience. So we made it in 3D,” Sasha said.
However, Javed Akhtar said that the original Sholay is a “classic” and one of the best Indian films ever made, adding that such great films “cannot be made again”.
Interestingly, when the screenwriter duo, who scripted several successful films including ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Deewaar’ and others, before abruptly calling off their collaboration, were asked if they would ever collaborate once again as screenwriters, Javed Akhtar said, “Wait for a while. Nothing is impossible”.
