Salim Khan

Writing

Salim Khan

Born 1935-11-24 · Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

Salim Abdul Rashid Khan is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter. He wrote the screenplays, stories and scripts for numerous Bollywood films. He is one half of the prolific screenwriting duo of Salim–Javed, along with Javed Akhtar. The duo were among the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status in Hindi cinema and became one of the most successful Indian screenwriters of all time. While working together, Salim Khan was largely responsible for developing the stories and characters, whereas Javed Akhtar was largely responsible for developing the script. Salim-Javed revolutionized Indian cinema in the 1970s, transforming and reinventing the Bollywood formula, pioneering the Bollywood blockbuster format and pioneering genres such as the masala film and the Dacoit Western. Salim Khan was also one of the responsible person for creating the "angry young man" character archetype of Amitabh Bachchan. Their films are among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, including Sholay (1975), the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, as well as films such as Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Zanjeer (1973), Deewaar (1975), Trishul (1978), Kranti (1981), and the Don franchise. Sholay is also considered to be one of the greatest Indian films of all time. Salim's eldest son Salman Khan is one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood while Sohail & Arbaaz Khan are film directors with a brief catalog of supporting roles. Salim's daughter Alvira Khan Agnihotri is a film producer & costume designer.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Sholay poster
7.1

After his family is slain by notorious bandit Gabbar Singh, former Inspector Thakur Baldev Singh enlists low-level outlaws Jai and Veeru to capture Gabbar and seek revenge.

Sholay

1975

Don poster
6.9

DCP DeSilva sees a way to bring to justice the feared head of a criminal empire by recruiting a man named Vijay, who looks exactly like the crime boss. The ruse works too well, and soon Vijay finds his life in danger when DeSilva, the only one who knows his true identity, dies.

Don

2006

Yaadon Ki Baaraat poster
7.9

Three brothers are separated after their parents are murdered by a gangster. Years later, they find their paths intertwined around a family song.

Yaadon Ki Baaraat

1973

Kaala Patthar poster
7.5

Vijay Singh is a disgraced former Merchant-Navy officer who is branded as a coward after he abandons his crew during an emergency. Guilt-ridden and trying to forget his past, he takes up work at a coal mine where he gets trapped with other miners after a flood hits them.

Kaala Patthar

1979

Don poster
6.6

A ruthless gangster named Don is killed during a scuffle with the police. Since only DSP D'Silva knows of this incident, he recruits Vijay, who is a spitting image of Don, to replace the original Don and infiltrate his gang. D'Silva plans to nab the entire gang, but when he dies during a raid, the secret that Vijay is not Don is also buried with him.

Don

1978

Don poster
6.6

A ruthless gangster named Don is killed during a scuffle with the police. Since only DSP D'Silva knows of this incident, he recruits Vijay, who is a spitting image of Don, to replace the original Don and infiltrate his gang. D'Silva plans to nab the entire gang, but when he dies during a raid, the secret that Vijay is not Don is also buried with him.

Don

1978

Seeta and Geeta poster
7.0

Long-suffering heiress Seeta is treated worse than a servant by her abusive money-grubbing aunt. Meanwhile, her long-lost twin sister Geeta grows up to be a gutsy street performer. One day, the girls unintentionally swap places.

Seeta and Geeta

1972

Mr. India poster
6.9

A poor but big-hearted man takes orphans into his home. After discovering his scientist father's invisibility device, he rises to the occasion and fights to save his children and all of India from the clutches of a megalomaniac.

Mr. India

1987

Toofan poster
6.1

Two brothers (Toofan and Shyam) are separated at birth by their father, a police inspector. One grows up to be a magician, and the other, the legendary Toofan, hero of the poor. His father was falsely accused of stealing millions in gold and Toofan is on a mission to clear his father's name from the police records.

Toofan

1989

Trishul poster
6.4

Vijay Kumar is the illegitimate son of a construction baron, Raj Kumar Gupta and his first love, Shanti, whom Raj had given up in order to marry a wealthy heiress. Raj does not know of this son, who grows up and after his mother's death comes to Delhi to take revenge on the Gupta family by destroying the family's business and their relation with each other.

Trishul

1978

Akayla poster
5.2

Inspector Vijay Verma finally manages to capture criminal mastermind Jojo. But Jojo escapes from jail and kills Vijay's friends for revenge, leaving Vijay determined to fulfill a vendetta of his own.

Akayla

1991

Zanjeer poster
6.9

A tough and honest police officer clashes with a crime boss who, unbeknownst to him, happens to be his parents' murderer.

Zanjeer

1973

Dostana poster
6.0

Two close friends decide to enter law enforcement – one a police officer, the other a lawyer – but their friendship begins to unravel when they both fall in love with the same woman.

Dostana

1980

Falak poster
8.5

Two partners namely, Murlidhar and Narang, betray their third partner and take over his business. Ramnath works as a watchman in this organization, and he sees illegal business taking place, and attempts to put a stop to this, only to get killed in the process, leaving behind a widow and two sons to fend for themselves. The police classify this death as an accident, and the management refuses to pay any compensation. Years later, the two sons have grown up and remember the death of their dad and the humiliation suffered at the hands of the new owners, and devise a plan to avenge this, and find that the owners have friends in the police force, as well as politicians, who will leave no stone unturned to protect both Narang and Murlidhar.

Falak

1988

Shaan poster
6.8

DSP Shiv Kumar returns home to his wife Sheetal and their young daughter and announces that he has been transferred to Bombay. Shiv Kumar has two brothers, Vijay and Ravi, who live in Mumbai. They are intelligent and capable guys, but spend their time loafing about the city and swindling unsuspecting people.

Shaan

1980

Haathi Mere Saathi poster
7.1

Raju becomes very attached to his four elephants after they save his life. His wife, however, fears for her child and tells him that he must choose between the animals and his family.

Haathi Mere Saathi

1971

Kranti poster
6.7

The film takes place in 19th Century British India and is the story of the fight for independence from the British in the years spanning from 1825 to 1875. It tells the story of two men who led the war against British Rule, Sanga and Bharat both of whom call themselves Kranti.

Kranti

1981

Patthar Ke Phool poster
5.3

Suraj falls in love with Kiran and doesn't know that she is the daughter of an underworld kingpin. Suraj's life takes a drastic turn when the same criminal kills his father.

Patthar Ke Phool

1991

Kabzaa poster
7.0

Ranjit Verma is lawyer to criminal Veljibhai who gets involved with Ranjit's brother, Ravi. Veljibhai, with the help of Ravi, tries to steal the property of Ustad Ali.

Kabzaa

1988

Deewaar poster
7.2

Haunted by the past, Vijay turns to crime, while Ravi, his brother, becomes an honest police officer. Fate pits them against each other when Ravi is sent to nab Vijay.

Deewaar

1975

Majboor poster
7.2

A terminally ill man frames himself for murder to allow his family to collect the reward money. After a successful operation, he escapes police custody and searches for the real killer.

Majboor

1974

Zamana poster
10.0

Poona-based Satish is a professional photographer and lives with his pregnant wife, Sudha, and son named Vinod. While developing some photographs with his friend, Shyamlal, they come across one that shows a man strangling another. They report this to the police, and shortly thereafter several men show up at Satish's house, take the photos,the negative, kill Satish, then go to hunt and kill Sudha, Vinod and Shyamlal, but they manage to escape and travel to Bombay, albeit separately. Sudha gives birth to a boy and names him Ravi. Years later, Vinod, who lives with Shyamlal, is a police inspector, while Ravi, who has taken to a life of crime, works for a gangster/respectable citizen named J.D. alias Jogeshwar Dayal - a man who Shyamlal can identify as their father's killer, and the very man who has just given Ravi a contract to kill Vinod.

Zamana

1985

Angaaray poster
9.0

When Sanjay learns that his sister, Aarti, has been raped by her employer, Jolly, he furiously attempts to kill him. However, when Sanjay gets killed in the process, Aarti exacts revenge on Jolly.

Angaaray

1986

Jurm poster
7.0

Police Inspector Shekhar Varma lives in Khar, Bombay, along with his wife, Meena, and a school-going daughter. His office is notified that Editor Ritesh Nandy has received death threats as he come across evidence that would expose some very influential people.

Jurm

1990