Speaking about the ongoing anti-CAA protests, and Anupam Kher’s vocal support to the act, Naseerunddin Shah had called him a clown and sycophant.
Actor Naseeruddin Shah’s remarks against fellow actor Anupam Kher has generated a lot of buzz. The latest to join the war of words controversy is former Governor of Mizoram, Swaraj Kaushal.
Kaushal posted a series of tweets on the issue on Wednesday where he called Shah an ‘ungrateful man’.
“Mr Naseeruddin Shah, you are an ungrateful man. This country gave you all the name, fame and money. Yet you are a disillusioned man. You married outside your religion. No one ever said a word. Your brother became Lt General of the Indian Army. Have you not been given more than an equal opportunity. Yet you are unhappy. You speak of apathy and discrimination. When you do all the blabbering, it is your ‘conscience’. When Anupam speaks his pain on being declared homeless in his own country, it is ‘psychophancy’,” Kaushal said in one of the tweets.
Governor Swaraj@governorswarajof Kashmir. Is he not entitled to weep out his pain ? What is it that you have and Anupam Kher does not have ? You think you are a better actor than Anupam Kher ? You are sadly mistaken.
Governor Swaraj@governorswarajMr.Naseeruddin Shah, you are an ungrateful man. This country gave you all the name, fame and money. Yet you are a disillusioned man. You married outside your religion. No one ever said a word. Your brother became Lt.General of the Indian Army. Have you not been given more
Kaushal, husband on former Union minister Sushma Swaraj who died last year, said he knows Kher for 47 years who is an accomplished actor.
“Anupam was an accomplished Actor. When he would go up the stage, the audience was transformed into another world. He was a star, but down to earth. I know many people of his time. The stardom did not go to his head. My friend Anang and Chitra Desai who got to know them later tell me about him. The man has not forgotten his roots. He has not left his people. His family has a home in Srinagar. They are not able to live there because Kashmiri Pandits were hounded out of Kashmir. Is he not entitled to weep out his pain? What is it that you have and Anupam Kher does not have? You think you are a better actor than Anupam Kher? You are sadly mistaken,” Kaushal said in his tweets.
He also spoke about Kher’s wife Kirron Kher, who he said was an ace badminton player. Kaushal holds the distinction of being the youngest Advocate General at the age of 34, and the youngest Governor at the age of 37.
Naseerunddin Shah recently opened up about the ongoing protests in the country against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA and fellow actor Anupam Kher in an interview, calling him clown and sycophant.
“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,” Shah said in the interview.
Responding to Shah’s comments, Kher released a video on his Twitter handle, hitting back at his ‘A Wednesday’ co-star.
“Though I have never said anything bad about you but now I will. You have spent your entire life in frustration, despite achieving so much. If you can criticise Dilip Kumar sahab, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Shah Rukh Khan and Virat Kohli, then I’m sure I’m in great company. None of them has ever taken your statements seriously as we all know that due to the substances you have been taking all these years, you don’t realise the difference between what is right and what is wrong,” Kher said.
Prasanta Patnaik