Naseeruddin Shah Says Success Of Movies Like 'Gadar 2', 'The Kerala Story' Is "Disturbing"
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has said that he finds the popularity of films like 'Gadar 2', 'The Kashmir Files', and 'The Kerala Story' "harmful".
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has said that he finds the popularity of films like 'Gadar 2', 'The Kashmir Files', and 'The Kerala Story' "harmful" because of their “jingoistic” nature. He also opined that filmmakers these days are made to make movies which bring down other communities unnecessarily. In the latest entertainment news, Naseeruddin Shah expressed concern over popularity of above-mentioned movies over the films directed by the likes of Hansal Mehta, Anubhav Sinha and Sudhir Mishra.
“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 told Free Press Journal.
“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.
For the unversed, 'The Kerala Story' directed by Sudipto Sen told the story of a group of women from Kerala who are converted to Islam. 'The Kashmir Files' is made around the topic of exodus of Kashmiri Pundits from the valley.
Recently released 'Gadar 2', which has made more than Rs 500 crore at the box office, tells a story of a father and son's escape from Pakistan after being held captive by an army general.
Naseeruddin Shah said that filmmakers like Anubhav Sinha, Hansal Mehta and Sudhir Mishra should not give up.
“But it’s important that these filmmakers don’t lose heart and continue telling stories. They will be responsible for posterity. A hundred years later people will see Bheed and they will also see Gadar 2 and see which one portrays the truth of our times because film is the only medium which could do that," he said.
“It’s hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So regressive is a pretty mild word for what’s going on. It’s frightening when filmmakers are being coopted into making films which praise all the wrong things and run down other communities for no reason at all. It’s a dangerous trend," he added.
On the work front, Naseeruddin Shah had recently directed a short film 'Man Woman Man Woman', starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Vivaan Shah, Tarun Dhanrajgir and Saba Azad.
