Javed Akhtar talks about how Amitabh Bachchan's ‘angry young man’ is different: 'His anger was based on deep hurt'

In a recent interview, writer Javed Akhtar questioned why the angry young man are just angry these days. Here's what he had to say about stardom too.

Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan’s affinity for writing the ‘angry young man’ for the the silver screen, often essayed by Amitabh Bachchan, was recently explored in Angry Young Men. While promoting the Prime Video docu-series, Javed spoke about the contemporary man essayed on screen with the Indian Express and had this to say about Ranbir’s stardom after Animal. (Also Read: Javed Akhtar says society is not clear who is a contemporary woman: 'Main chup rahungi is out')

‘They forgot about the hurt; there’s only anger’

Javed Akhtar spoke about Amitabh Bachchan and his portrayal of ‘angry young man’.

Javed explained how Amitabh’s ‘angry young man’ differs from the contemporary men essayed in films today.

He said, “Amitabh Bachchan’s anger was based on deep hurt. You could see the pain in him when he’s angry. Then, they forgot about the hurt; there was only anger, which was crude. That is how the angry young man went out of the scene. Now, who is the contemporary man? How much he owes to society, to peers, his family, or himself? Where do you draw the line to selfishness? It’s now clear. You don’t have great characters or great stars because of that.”

When the host immediately asked if Javed is implying that Ranbir will never be a star like Amitabh because of Animal, he jokingly replied, “No, no, I may write a film for him.” This is not the first time Javed has been openly critical of Animal.

Recent work

Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, was released in theatres in 2023 and was a massive hit at the box office. The film also starred Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri. It was criticised for violence and misogyny, with Ranbir playing the titular animalistic man called Ranvijay Singh. After his distant father’s life is threatened, he goes on a murderous rampage.