'Angry Young Men': A documentary that entertains but doesn’t elucidate

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How To Become Famous, to become successful, “some people… need to get attached, to the… mood of the nation." Salim-Javed did that with their angry young man. As the actor Sharat Saxena recalls: “It was the 70s… The anger and the fire that burned inside this hero was the same fire that raged within every young man." This is where the documentary peaks on this concept and then moves on. However, Akhtar offers this disclaimer: “We were unaware of all this while writing." A nice segue could have explained how the term ‘angry young man’ emerged.

In its plural form, it originally referred to a group of British writers and playwrights such as Kingsley Amis and John Osborne, whose writing of the 1950s reflected their disillusionment with traditional British society. Another key aspect which the documentary touches on but doesn’t fully explore is the inspiration behind some of Salim-Javed’s films. Take Deewar, a clever reworking of Mother India and Gunga Jumna.

Taking a primarily rural storyline and setting it in the port and underworld of Mumbai was a terrific idea. How did it come about? No details are provided. Similarly, Kala Patthar features a lead character inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel Lord Jim.

Or take Salim-Javed’s biggest hit, Sholay. The broad plotline is borrowed from Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. The scene where the family of Inspector Thakur Baldev Singh is killed by the dacoit Gabbar Singh is inspired from Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time In the West.