Happy Birthday Salim Khan: ‘Sholay’ to ‘Don’, 5 best films from veteran screenwriter

(Pic courtesy: IFTPC/ Twitter)

Legendary Bollywood screenwriter Salim Khan, who has penned a string of cult classics in collaboration with Javed Akhtar, turns 88 on Friday. Famously called as Salim-Javed, the duo has scripted many commercially and critically accepted films like ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat', ‘Zanjeer', ‘Deewaar', ‘Trishul', ‘Kaala Patthar', ‘Dostana', ‘Seeta Aur Geeta', ‘Sholay', ‘Mr India', ‘Don', and many more. Moreover, the duo gave the most legendary ‘Angry Young Man' character- Vijay to the Indian cinema. The character was portrayed by megastar Amitabh Bachchan in films like ‘Deewar', ‘Agneepath', ‘Zanjeer', among others.

Let's take a look at the blockbuster films written by Salim Khan.

1. Sholay

The 1975 Indian action-adventure ‘Sholay' was penned by Salim-Javed. Ramesh Sippy directorial film revolves around the village of Ramgarh, where retired police chief Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) plots to bring down the notorious bandit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) and enlists the help of two lesser criminals, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra). When Gabbar attacks the village, Jai and Veeru wonder why Thakur does nothing to help them. They soon learn that he has no arms and that Gabbar was the one who cut them off. Enraged by this, they redouble their efforts to help Thakur.

2. Don

A super hit action thriller ‘Don' featuring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. Amitabh Bachchan plays Bombay underworld Don and his lookalike simpleton Vijay in the movie. Many people admired Zeenat Aman's portrayal of Roma Bhagat. Aman's character exhibited feminism at a period when Indian female figures were little more than love interests.

3. Deewar

This iconic movie is famous for its classic dialogues and temple sequence. It's the story of two brothers who struggle to survive in Bombay's slums and finally find themselves on opposing sides of the law. The film was released in 1975.

4. Mr. India

Bollywood got one of its most iconic films of all times- Mr. India, a sci-fi which more than three decades later, still remains etched in hearts, thanks to crackling chemistry between its lead actors Sridevi and Anil Kapoor. ‘Mr. India' tells the story of a poor but big-hearted man (Anil) who gives shelter to orphans. After discovering his scientist father's invention of a device that would make its user invisible, he fights to save the children and the country from a villain named Mogambo, an unforgettable portrayal by late actor Amrish Puri.

Bollywood got one of its most iconic films of all times- Mr. India, a sci-fi which more than three decades later, still remains etched in hearts, thanks to crackling chemistry between its lead actors Sridevi and Anil Kapoor.

5. Zanjeer
Zanjeer is the film that gave Amitabh Bachchan the ‘angry young man' title and also lead him to stardom in the 1970s.

(with inputs from ANI)