For the editor of films like Kahaani and Band Baaja Baaraat and a slew of web series including Mismatched and Made in Heaven, there couldn’t have been a better directorial launchpad than the Prime Video docuseries Angry Young Men. Keeping aside the chatter around the famous Salim-Javed fallout, director Namrata Rao has chosen to focus on what made Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar the most successful writer duo in the 1970s and their staggering contribution to Hindi cinema. The SRFTI alumnus shares with The Telegraph Online what went into the making of Angry Young Men.

The Telegraph Online: What were Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar’s reactions after watching Angry Young Men?

Namrata Rao: Both loved it. They did. I was scared I didn’t know what their reaction would be. I was surprised. Salim sir told me he wanted to see more of what I do. Even Javed sir told me to make my next film quickly, expressed his interest in watching it and told me he is there for me, which means a lot.

The Telegraph Online: How was the idea conceived? What drew you to Salim-Javed?

Namrata Rao: This subject picked me rather than me picking it. Back in 2018, Zoya (Akhtar, daughter of Javed Akhtar) and I were working on Lust Stories, an anthology which she directed and I edited. We talked about random things like what films she liked and what I liked. That’s when she told me that she was toying with the idea of a documentary, and she wanted to call it Angry Young Men. It would be about the Salim-Javed era, their films and the kind of things they did like painting their names on the film posters.

I was fascinated by their stories. I knew of them, but I didn’t know them. I watched those films as a kid and later in a film school, so I thought it would be exciting. After two and a half years, in December 2020, Zoya asked me if I could direct it. It was such an instinctive decision. I am a great lover of documentaries. I have worked on a lot of documentaries as an editor, so I thought it would be wow. I was doing cartwheels. I don’t think I could have had a better debut.

The Telegraph Online: Though Angry Young Men is a documentary, it has all the ebb and flow of a Bollywood blockbuster…

Namrata Rao: (Laughs) I guess that is the filminess in me. I am a film person. I have worked on five documentaries before I worked on Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. I got my break with Dibakar Banerjee (Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! director) because of a documentary. I was at Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata, where I worked with Shyamal Karmakar on the documentary I’m The Very Beautiful!. It was shown around a bit. It was appreciated. Dibakar saw my film and said he wanted that raw energy in his fiction. I was very lucky in that sense.

And then it went from there and I came back to documentaries whenever I felt a bit saturated. In between, I did Katiyabaaz and among the recent ones is House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths on Netflix. I did it during the lockdown. Documentaries energise and help me to get out of the bubble which films sometimes put you in. It infuses a new energy and vigour. It helps me in my fiction work also, so I want to do both as much as possible. But I guess fiction has its charm. I wanted this documentary to be watched by many people, which also explains this treatment.

The Telegraph Online: Having seen Salim-Javed from close quarters, what were your learnings about improving your craft?

Namrata Rao: I have learnt that you must always stay curious about life. Salim sir says to be interesting, you must be interested. And that’s what keeps them going and keeps them young in spirit. There is still a sense of wonder. We lose it when we grow old, but they are interested in everything. I find them very inspiring and to say that I am going to back myself up in my crazy dreams is inspiring. They manifested so many things just by believing in themselves. In a creative endeavour, there is no ultimate failure. There are so many takeaways.

The Telegraph Online: The most fascinating bit of Angry Young Men is that Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar were so different yet so similar in terms of their personal and professional lives. Even the celebration of the mother figure in their films arises from pining for their mothers and the absence of their fathers while growing up.

Namrata Rao: Absolutely, that was my understanding too that they are so similar yet so different and how they both have the wound of the mother and how that has spilled into their writing so much. The phenomenon of ‘angry young man’ comes from something in their childhood and something they long for. I found that very, very interesting. Isn’t it interesting that something can create a cultural impact on so many people?

The Telegraph Online: While reminiscing about their mothers, both Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar got very emotional…

Namrata Rao: I remember feeling very touched by those moments. It must have been so tough that you put it behind you and become heroes telling interesting stories.

The Telegraph Online: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar were extremely positive in Angry Young Men. Salman spoke very candidly about the Salim-Javed bond beyond work…

Namrata Rao: They were positive. The times spent with them helped in bringing their trust and their own personalities. They are not people who would like to shy away from things. I was so happy with the Salman interview.

The Telegraph Online: In Angry Young Men, you celebrated Salim-Javed’s iconic collaboration more than their fallout. Was it a conscious decision to keep it so graceful?

Namrata Rao: I am happy you said graceful because a lot of people have asked why I didn’t get into the nitty-gritty of the split after 40 years. There were many triggers and a lot of people knew about them. But 40 years on, they have grown old. They were in their 30s and 40s and now they are almost in their 80s and 90s. At this age to discuss that felt a bit petty to me and trivialising the whole thing. It’s a bit of reality TV culture.

The Telegraph Online: And the nature of the rift must have changed with time...

Namrata Rao: Yes, their emotions towards each other have changed. The fact is that they were graceful about it, and they are very cordial and nice to each other when they meet. That is important.

The Telegraph Online: It’s a delight to see Salim-Javed in one frame at the end of the series. Did they know about the meeting?

Namrata Rao: Yes, they knew it. We were on the side, waiting.

The Telegraph Online: They are laughing and pulling each other’s leg...

Namrata Rao: That’s what they do whenever they meet. That made me comfortable. (Smiles) It was at Shivaji Park. It was an elaborate Diwali light inauguration ceremony. Raj Thackeray invited them to inaugurate the lights. There was a huge crowd and confetti.

The Telegraph Online: Do they talk about each other a lot?

Namrata Rao: They talk a lot about each other. They talk for each other. For instance, Javed sir says that the idea of cutting Thakur’s hand (in Sholay) was conceived by Salim sir and then Salim sir says that the former suggested the dialogue to be written in that fashion. So, they talk about each other because that’s a big part of their lives. They are very fond of each other. Shooting for this also made them very nostalgic. They were friends and their families were friends. There’s a lot of sharing that has happened.

The Telegraph Online: Tell us what you are directing next.

Namrata Rao: I am working on a fiction project, which will be a theatrical release. I hope it works out soon.