the masala film was pioneered in the early 1970s by filmmaker nasir hussain, along with screenwriter duo salim-javed, consisting of salim khan and javed akhtar. "yaadon ki baarat" (1973), directed by hussain and written by salim-javed, has been identified as the first masala film. salim-javed went on to write more successful masala films in the 1970s and 1980s. a landmark for the masala film genre was "amar akbar anthony" (1977), directed by manmohan desai and written by kader khan. manmohan desai went on to successfully exploit the genre in the 1970s and 1980s.