‘Gadar 2’ Director Expresses Disappointment Over Naseeruddin Shah Calling Sunny Deol-Starrer “Jingoistic” And “Disturbing”
‘Gadar 2’ director Anil Sharma said that Naseeruddin Shah shouldn’t have commented about the film without having watched it.
Anil Sharma has been basking in the success of his recent directorial venture ‘Gadar 2’. The 2023 Hindi movie, starring Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, and Utkarsh Sharma, may not have received critical acclaim but has emerged as a massive commercial success. ‘Gadar 2’ has already become the second highest-grossing Hindi movie of all time and is battling to beat Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathaan’, which holds the coveted title. While many Bollywood stars attended the recent success bash of ‘Gadar 2’ and congratulated the team on social media, renowned veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah recently slammed the film.
Naseeruddin Shah, known for not mincing his words, shared his thoughts on the success of ‘Gadar 2’, ‘The Kerala Story’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’ during a recent conversation with Free Press Journal. After he went on to call such movies “disturbing” and “jingoistic”, Anil Sharma reacted to his statement.
Anil Sharma expressed disappointment at Naseeruddin Shah’s comments, and said that he could’ve at least taken the effort to watch the movie before talking about it. In an interview with Aaj Tak, Anil Sharma said that Naseeruddin Shah is aware of his political leanings.
He said, “I read that quote by Naseer sahab. I was surprised after reading it. Naseer sahab knows me well and he also knows which ideology I belong to. I am surprised that he is saying such things about Gadar 2.”
Anil Sharma added, “I would like to say that Gadar 2 is not against any community. Neither is it against any country. Gadar in itself is a film which is full of patriotism. It is a sequel. It is a proper masala film, which people have been watching for years.”
The director also said that once “Naseer sahab that once he watches Gadar 2, he will definitely change his statement.”
“I still feel that he cannot say such things. I have been a fan of his acting. If he has said so, then I would request him to watch the film once. I have always made cinema with the aim of masala. I have never had any political propaganda in this. Naseer sahab himself is aware of this,” Anil Sharma added.
In his interaction with the Free Press Journal some days ago, Naseeruddin Shah had said that he finds the popularity of films like 'Gadar 2', 'The Kashmir Files', and 'The Kerala Story' "harmful" because of their “jingoistic” nature.
“Now the more jingoist you are, the more popular you become, because this is what has been ruling this country. It’s not enough to love your country but beat drums about it and you have to create imaginary enemies," the veteran actor said.
“In fact, films like Kerala Story and Gadar 2, I haven’t seen them but I know what they are about. It’s disturbing that films like Kashmir Files are so massively popular whereas movies made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times don’t get seen," he added.
Recently released 'Gadar 2', which has made more than Rs 500 crore at the box office, tells a story of a father (Sunny Deol) and son's (Utkarsh Sharma) escape from Pakistan after being held captive by an army general.
While the 2023 film ‘The Kerala Story’ was criticised for its inflammatory content, ‘Gadar 2’ hasn’t faced the same level of scrutiny. Recently, director Anurag Kashyap even praised Anil Sharma for making a patriotic movie responsibly.
