Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who has been associated with the Indian film industry for more than five decades, has turned 77 today. The Gwalior-born cinematic virtuoso is the recipient of India’s two highest civilian honors namely the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan besides winning the coveted National Film Award multiple times.
Javed Akhtar is well known for his collaboration with another prolific writer Salim Khan and together (as Salim-Javed), the duo had written some of the finest films in Indian cinema such as Zanjeer, Deewaar, Sholay, Don, Kaala Patthar, and Mr. India, to name a few. However, for this article, we have compiled a list of some of those films (after 1990) to which Javed Akhtar had lent his first-rate writing skills (as screenwriter/dialogue writer) besides the Salim-Javed movies. We have also mentioned alongside where to watch these films on Indian OTT platforms.
Luck By Chance (Streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video)
The film was the directorial debut of Zoya Akhtar, and Javed Akhtar had written the dialogues for the movie. The plot revolves around the story of an aspiring Bollywood actor Vikram (played by Farhan Akhtar), his relationship with another struggling actress Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), and how, by a twist of fate, he gets his first big break. The film also featured Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla, and had cameos by Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, and Abhishek Bachchan, amongst others.
Lakshya (Streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video)
Written by Javed Akhtar, this Farhan Akhtar’s directorial is arguably the finest film based on the Kargil War backdrop. The movie follows the fictional story of a carefree character Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) and how a series of incidents transforms him into an extremely committed soldier hellbent on achieving an almost impossible mission for his country. The film also featured Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, and Boman Irani in pivotal roles.
Don (Streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video)
Javed Akhtar had co-written the film’s screenplay along with Farhan Akhtar, who also directed the film. A rehashed version of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer 1978 movie of the same name, ‘Don’ features Shah Rukh Khan in dual roles of the titular don and his look-alike Vijay. The story follows Vijay’s adventures after he is sent on a dangerous mission by a determined cop (Boman Irani) to replace his evil doppelganger named Don. However, the plan soon goes haywire when the cop, who knows about Don’s secret identity dies, leaving Vijay completely on his own.
Khel (Steaming on SonyLIV)
This is an entertaining and underrated film that was helmed by ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ director Rakesh Roshan and written by Javed Akhtar. The film follows the story of three street smart conmen (played by Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, and Anupam Kher) and their efforts to woo a widowed and affluent industrialist (Mala Sinha) with the intention to grab her multi-crore property.
Dil Dhadakne Do (Streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video)
Although the film was mainly written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, who was also the helmer, the endearing dialogues/monologues for the movie’s narrator Aamir Khan’s Pluto Mehra (a dog) were penned by Javed Akhtar and were one of the film’s highlights. The film’s underlying plot revolves around a cruise trip organized by the Mehra family and how the super-rich but dysfunctional family members (Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah) begin to understand each other during the eventful trip.
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