In a recent interview, Naseeruddin Shah discussed the film industry’s silence regarding the international incident caused by Nupur Sharma’s remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The interview laid a special focus on the three Khans of Bollywood.
Nupur Sharma came to the limelight after she made controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad in a live news debate. The BJP described her as a fringe element and distanced themselves from her comments. They further stated that her words did not reflect the party’s views. Nupur Sharma was shortly suspended from the BJP after several countries in West Asia raised official concerns about her remarks.
In his interview with the NDTV, he said, “I cannot speak for them. I am not in the position they are in. I feel they think they would be risking too much. But then, I don’t know how they explain it to their own conscience about it. But I think they are in a position where they have too much to lose.”
He cited the ‘witch-hunt’ of Shahrukh Khan’s son, Aryan, as an example. He stated that Shahrukh Khan handled the entire episode with grace and dignity. Mr Shah further stated that Mr Khan became a target of a witch-hunt because he supported Trinamool Congress and lauded Mamata Banerjee.
Aryan Khan was arrested earlier this year by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) over the alleged possession of drugs. However, he was later given a clean chit by the NCB in its charge sheet due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
When asked about the recent nationalistic movies, such as Samarat Prithviraj, produced by various filmmakers, he stated that they are “appearing to be on the winning side.” Moreover, when asked about the recent success of ‘The Kashmir Files’, Mr Shah called the movie ‘an almost fictionalised version of the suffering of Kashmiri Hindus’ and that the government was promoting it.
Mr Shah predicted that ‘pseudo-patriotic films’ would rise in numbers in the near future.
References: The Indian Express
Featured image source: Telegraph India
