New Delhi:
Legendary screenwriter Salim Khan lately appeared as a visitor on NDTV’s particular present India By way of the Eyes of Its Icons. Throughout the dialog, he shared his unbelievable journey within the Indian movie trade and highlighted the stark distinction between how writers had been as soon as undervalued and the way he broke by means of these boundaries to command extra money than actors at one level in his profession.
Salim Khan recalled his early days working as an assistant to Abrar Alvi, a time when the plight of writers was usually overshadowed by the glamour of the celebrities. “After I used to work as an assistant with Abrar Alvi, writers had been so poorly paid that you’d really feel pity listening to about it. Their remuneration was so meager, it is exhausting to clarify. Writers needed to give you causes simply to ask for money-whether it was to pay faculty charges, renew a railway cross, or cowl electrical energy payments,” he shared, portray an image of an period the place writers had been barely recognised for his or her essential function in filmmaking.
Nonetheless, Salim Khan’s mindset shifted when he transitioned to appearing, recognising that the power of a movie was not in its stars however in its script. “After I got here and I began working as an actor, mujhe laga yeh actor log toh theek hai, lekin sab mein jo necessary cheez hai vo hai movie ki script. Agar script kamzor hai ya script prepared nahi hai toh movie chal hello nahi sakti. It’s unattainable (After I transitioned to appearing, I spotted that whereas actors had been necessary, essentially the most important side of a movie is its script. If the script is weak or incomplete, the movie merely can not work. It is unattainable. Each profitable movie from that period had a wonderful script),” he mentioned.
Salim Khan then recalled a pivotal dialog with Abrar Alvi, the place he had boldly predicted a future the place writers would earn as a lot as actors. “Someday, I used to be sitting and speaking, so I mentioned, ‘Abrar sahab, ek zamana aayega ke actor ke barabar paisa lega author.’ Then he requested me, ‘kya kaha?’ I repeated the phrases once more. He replied, ‘Miyan, mere saamne yeh baat kar rahe hai, kisi aur ke saamne baat karenge toh pagal kahega’ I mentioned, ‘Abrar sahab, a time will come when writers will earn as a lot as actors.’ He requested me, ‘What did you say?’ He had heard me however nonetheless requested once more. So I repeated the phrases. He replied, ‘Miyan, you are saying this in entrance of me. In the event you say this in entrance of another person, they are going to name you loopy.’ I requested, ‘Why not?’)”
The veteran screenwriter shared, “At the moment, main stars like Dilip Kumar had been incomes 12 lakhs per movie, whereas writers would solely be paid a fraction of that-around 10,000-12,000 rupees.” Regardless of Alvi’s scepticism, Salim Khan mentioned that he was satisfied that if the script was robust, writers would finally command the charges they deserved.”
Years later, Salim Khan proved himself proper. He recounted the second when he lastly surpassed an actor’s pay, fulfilling his daring prediction. “Aur phir ek baar aisa hua ki maine actor se zyada paise liye. Uske baad maine unhe telephone kiya aur kaha, ‘Abrar sahab, do you do not forget that we had a dialog ki ek zamana aayega jab author actor ke barabar paise lenge?’ so he mentioned, ‘sure, my reminiscence is excellent.’ And I mentioned, ‘Vo galat kaha tha maine.’ So he requested, ‘galat kya?’ Toh maine bola ki ‘actor ke barabar nahi, actor se zyaada paise liye hai maine’ (After which, one time, I took extra money than an actor. After that, I referred to as him and mentioned, ‘Abrar sahab, do you keep in mind we had a dialog about how a time would come when writers would earn as a lot as actors?’ He mentioned, ‘Sure, I’ve a superb reminiscence.’ And I advised him, ‘What I mentioned was improper.’ He requested, ‘What was improper?’ And I mentioned, ‘I did not earn as a lot because the actor, I earned extra.’ At the moment, the actor in my movie was incomes 12 lakhs, and I requested the producer to pay me 12.5 lakhs-and he agreed.”
Salim Khan was final seen of their docu-series Indignant Younger Males alongside Javed Akhtar, which delves into the groundbreaking work of the legendary writers. The three-part documentary, directed by Namrata Rao and produced by Salman Khan Movies, Excel Media and Leisure, and Tiger Child, options interviews with a bunch of stars together with Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar.