Mumbai: Actor Naseeruddin Shah has opened up about the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and said his fellow actor Anupam Kher, who has been “very vocal” in his support to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its policies, is a clown.
In an interview with The Wire, Naseeruddin talked about the protests against the CAA, about many Bollywood stars keeping mum over the issue, and also about the student protests and actress Deepika Padukone’s show of solidarity at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), reports hindustantimes.com.
Asked if speaking against the ruling party or voicing opinion could harm actors or the film they are associated with, Shah said actors usually think only of themselves. “Otherwise there’d be more parity. But that’s a story for another day,” he said.
He also spoke about Deepika, who received mixed response for her visiting JNU after some of its students were thrashed.
“You have to laud the courage of a girl like Deepika who is in the top firmament and yet takes a step like this. Even if she has a lot to lose,” he said.
“Let us see how she takes it. She’ll lose a few endorsement, sure. Will that impoverish her? Will that lessen her popularity? Will that make her less beautiful than she is? They’re gonna come around sooner or later. The only god that film industry worships is money,” he added.
As for his “A Wednesday” co-star Anupam Kher, Shah said: “Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don’t think he needs to be taken seriously. He’s a clown. Any number of his contemporaries from NFD and FTII can attest to his sycophantic nature. It’s in his blood, he can’t help it.”
Hitting out at Shah for his remarks, Kher took to Twitter and posted a video with a caption in Hindi which read, “Greetings to Janab Naseeruddin Shah saheb!!! He is elder to me both in age and experience. I have always respected his talent and will always do so. But sometimes, it is very necessary to respond to what they have said about us. This is my answer.
???? ???????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ??????!!! ?? ????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?????pic.twitter.com/M4vb8RjGjj
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) January 22, 2020
In the video, he said that nobody takes anything that he says seriously because it was not he who was speaking, but years of external influences. He said that if Shah got publicity for two to three days because of this, then he was happy for him. Kher ended the video by asking Shah what blood ran through his body and answered saying that it was “Hindustan”.
(With additional inputs)
