Indian Screenwriter Javed Akhtar On How He Changed Bollywood: ‘We Had No Fear Or Doubt
Kolkata Bangla: Caved Akhtar, along with his co-founder Salim Khan, set the entire Indian film industry on a hitherto unknown path in the history of Indian commercial cinema, with the archetypal villain Gabbar Singh [Amjad Khan] shouting “Kitni admi”. Sholai. him "(how many were there?).
From the dreaded interview that gave the iconic 1975 production of Bollywood unprecedented status to the song, he sang a serenade of a romantic freedom fighter (Anil Kapoor) to his lover with a sweet explosion of unprecedented comparisons to the song’s background. . The love story of the 1942 Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga screenwriter, lyricist and poet has always gone far beyond what is known, proven and stated.
Akhtar Urdu is as shameless but complex as the repertoire of poetry, words and scripts, which contradicts the timing and genre of many of Bollywood’s blockbusters. There is no doubt that the Indian film industry entered the front hall at a time when it was the "king of music" and therefore "it would be suicidal to invent a story with an unread character!"
On March 23, Tata Steel Kolkata opened an interesting session with Master Gulf News, alongside an ongoing literary gathering.
You started writing screenplays and short stories in a time when many people in Hollywood didn't even know how to write a screenplay like the art of film. You changed that as part of the wonderful Salim-Javed couple. How was that possible?
I’ve always believed that people who make big changes and revolutions don’t realize it. They don’t understand the direction of their work, and that’s good because if they knew what it was, they might be scared of the work ahead. Despite their innocence, they had to believe that they were doing well and that they were relatively blind to the danger. I’m going to tell you about a critic named Mary Cohen of California. He wrote a lot about the meaning that Salim-Javad found in every metaphor he used in movies and interviews, descriptions, etc. He wrote so much that we [Salim-Javad] didn't know ourselves! We didn’t know we were doing this. This was when Rajesh Khanna was at the peak of his career and music was king. There was RD Burman, Lakshmikant Pyarelal, who released one of their most successful music albums in a row. So it would be almost suicidal to invent a story with a character who doesn’t read at this stage. But honestly, we are not consciously trying to be different. And so we had no fear or doubt about what we had created.
Let's take two examples: "Kaala Pattar" and "Don". Although the stage played well, Kaala Pattar was not commercially successful. Don was in a more reckless mood, but the film became a cult hit. How hard is it to catch the pulse of the audience each time?
Never try to take anyone's pulse. Instead, keep feeling the pulse, because at least some of you are interested in what you are interested in. But if you start to feel the pulse of others, you may or may not be successful. Believe in your thoughts and beliefs, this is all that matters.
Going back to Kaala Pattar and Dona, Kaala Pattar can be seen as a tense film, but we’ve been there before. Compared to him, Don was something new. It was the first closed-door film made in Hindi that was not used by any family. There were no false emotions. There was no mother. For example, Pran’s Don had two children, but we didn’t create a moving story from him. That’s why Don continued to be a private film, and we’re honest about that. You know, it sounds pretty commonplace today, but in the 1970s, it was unparalleled to make a film that had no family origins. The recognition of man as a personality did not exist in Indian cinema until the advent of the Saint.
I can show that with my experience as a letter. For example, I Jodhaa Akbar and On Rock !! in the same year. Although Jodhaa Akbar has brought me a lot of well-known and critical reviews and awards, Rock On !! no But I'll tell you the lyrics to the song Rock On !! they were unique because they used English words in Indian songs for more humorous purposes. But it wasn’t a comedy. Those were the words of the heart. They looked like songs written by a rock band, so it was much harder for Jodhaa Akbar to write these words.
At the British National Museum, [William] Shakespeare, [John] Dunn, [PB] Shelley, [John] Keats, Oscar Wilde ... And in this room, in a glass jar, Paul McCartney's "Yesterday." maturity and the belief of the intellectuals of this country that both Shakespeare and McCartney live under one roof.
Do you see any changes in the modern Indian environment that are in line with the idea of the British National Museum?
I remember one day in 1976, when I spoke to Mr. [Satyajit] Ray in front of a journalist named Amita Malik. Amita tried to attack Shola, and do you know who was against her? Mr. Yildirim. He said, "Don't talk about Sholay like that. I've seen this movie and I'm very proud that India can make movies like Sholay today. I'm very happy about that. It's a very well done movie."
Mr. Ray could have said that, but journalist Amita Malik could not, because Mr. Ray did not question his intellectual self. Most of us can't do that, that's the problem. It’s important to have your voice, not someone else’s.
How did it feel to work with your children as a film lyricist? You did it in some of Farhan and Zoya Akhtar's films ...
First of all, you have to forget that they are your children. Second, you need to get rid of the idea that all those born after you are less intelligent and talented than you. “I’m wiser than my father and I’m wiser than my son”: this deal won’t work! Even if they are your children, you need to listen carefully, because they know a lot of things that you don't know or don't understand, because this is their world. At the same time, I have something to share with them so they don't know. So if there is mutual return, there is mutual respect, it is possible to work with the younger generations. My collaboration with Farhan and Zoya is based on mutual respect.
For the first time, your poetry anthology has been translated from Urdu to Bengali. How important do you think translations are in promoting literature? And is the end result always gratifying?
The end result is not always as satisfying as it should be. But let’s not forget that languages are for communication. Paradoxically, language is often a barrier to communication! Translations are the only window to these obstacles. Imagine, without translation, we would not know who [Lev] Tolstoy was, who Dostoevsky or Alberto Moravia were. We will still have time to read English literature, but what about continental literature? It's a great idea.
Of course, translation has its limitations. Sometimes the taste is lost. Some words cannot be read or understood literally. The problem is more serious in poetry. Poetry is often smooth. Speaking of nuance, of symbols, some metaphors are difficult to translate. Therefore, we do not include ghazals in this Bengali version, as I believe that ghazals cannot be translated. You can translate a word, but how can you translate the history of that word? There is a word in Urdu that means "bar" rather than "bar".
It is often said that the power of writing is rapidly losing its appeal to the younger generation. Your opinions ...
Today’s children don’t just rely on books for information. They have iPads, phones and other devices. They have their own sources of information and do not have to be in book form. Also, one of the most common complaints of young people from the time of Aristotle is that young people are less educated or less prone to mental development. If you look on Google, you will probably see that Aristotle also once complained that the younger generation did not pay enough attention. So we’ve been there before [laughs].
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