Veteran Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah, referring to BJP spokesperson’s remarks against prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), spoke about the three most popular Khans of Bollywood- Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Amir Khan’s silence over the uproar caused internationally by BJP’s spokesperson Nurpur Sharma’s insulting comments in a television debate.
In an interview with NDTV, Naseeruddin Shah spoke about the rise of “pseudo-patriotic cinema”, with films like ‘The Kashmir Files’ on rise. The actor stated that the biggest stars in country may have “just too much to lose by speaking.” He further said that they mist be risking too much because they are in a position where they have too much to lose. Naseeruddin Shah referring to the Muslim khans said that I have no idea how do they deal with their conscience. Mentioning the incident of Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan he stated, “What happened to Shah Rukh Khan and the dignity with which he faced it was admirable. It was nothing but a witch-hunt. He has kept his mouth shut. All he did was support Trinamool and applaud Mamata Banerjee. Sonu Sood gets raided. Anyone who makes any statement gets a response. Maybe I am next. I don’t know (laughs). Though, they won’t find anything.”
Last year, Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Aryan Khan in a drug bust abroad a Goa-bound cruise. He was eventually sent to jail for few weeks before being granted bail but was finally given clean chit on the basis of ‘lack of sufficient evidence’ Shah also spoke about the so-called nationalistic movies being filmed, like Akshay Kumar’s ‘Kashmir Files’ which is almost a factionalized version of sufferings of Kashmiri Hindus and told that the government is promoting it. Naseeruddin Shah himself had worked with Agnihotri on equally controversial but less successful The Tashkent Files. Shah anticipates more of ‘pseudo-patriotic films’ in coming years.
Nurpur Sharma was suspended by BJP after the outrage from oil-rich countries from Middle East, who condemned the disrespectful remarks by her. BJP stated that her words do not reflect their party’s views and labeled her as ‘fringe element’ and declared themselves separate from her.
