Salim Khan had once revealed the challenging stage of his career when his formidable collaboration with Javed Akhtar ended in the early 1980s. The legendary duo, also known as Salim-Javed, ruled the Hindi film industry with hit movies such as Sholay, Deewar and Trishul, and had once been one of the most in demand writers in the industry. The distance between the two, however, which appeared after their 1982 film Shakti, led to a sharp and surprising halt in the career of Salim Khan.

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In an open memory Salim wrote that he was just about unemployed in four years after the break up. It was an extreme contrast to the previously successful duo where producers kept knocking on their door. He remembered that the situation had changed drastically: when Salim-Javed was known to everyone, he used to switch off his phone in the evenings, so as to avoid constant calls but after the alliance broke, he could at times pick up the receiver just to ensure that it worked.

Another topic that Salim discussed was industry attitudes which claimed the bulk of the creative genius of the duo was due to Javed Akhtar. These suppositions gave it significance that he created his own identity as a writer. He is also determined to prove himself and later on comes up with the movie of the day called Naam which he believes is a very important validation of his talent.

A very emotional scene of that time was as Salim eventually appeared on the screen with his name listed alone and without a big credit after several years. He was so hooked up on the experience that he could not even look at the screen, remembering that he would even shed tears at the thought of the solo credit appearing in front of his eyes.

In a retrospective on the parting, Javed Akhtar has in the past elaborated that the creative synergy between the duo was wearing out its welcome following the split of the personal and professional circles. With time, the spontaneous comprehension between them during writing sessions faded and this made the process of collaborating complicated.

The Salim-Javed legacy cannot be replaced even after the painful aftermath in the history of Hindi cinema. Their collaboration reestablished the position of the screenwriters and brought some of the most memorable stories of Bollywood. The ability of Salim Khan to remember his battles after the split is a rare insight into weakness of one of the most creative forces in the industry.