Two seasoned actors with two different political ideologies involved in a war of words.

By Mayur Lookhar

They may have worked together in films, but Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher aren’t the most close friends. Their different political ideologies has led them on a verbal warpath. Shah had stunned all when in an interview to a left wing portal, the veteran actor called Kher a clown and a sycophant. It didn’t take long for Kher to respond as he pinned down Shah’s lack of judgement to consumption of substances.

“Sir Naseeruddin Shah, I saw your interview where you commented about me. You called me a clown, sycophant etc. Thank you for the compliment, but I don’ t take you or your your words seriously. Mind you, I have never criticized you. But now I’d like to say that despite achieving so much success, you’ve largely spent your life in frustration. If you can criticise Dilip Kumar , Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Shah Rukh Khan, Virat Kohli, then I’m sure that I’m in great company. None of these men took your statements seriously.,” Kher said in a video post on Twitter..

जनाब नसीरुदिन शाह साब के लिए मेरा प्यार भरा पैग़ाम!!! वो मुझसे बड़े है। उम्र में भी और तजुर्बे में भी। मै हमेशा से उनकी कला की इज़्ज़त करता आया हूँ और करता रहूँगा। पर कभी कभी कुछ बातों का दो टूक जवाब देना बहुत ज़रूरी होता। ये है मेरा जवाब। 🙏 pic.twitter.com/M4vb8RjGjj

— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) January 22, 2020

The Accidental Prime Minister [2019] actor made a strange comment when he pinned down Shah’s conduct and lack of judgement to use of substances.

“We all know that it is not you, but it is the consumption of substances over many years that you cannot differentiate between right and wrong. By bad mouthing me you can remain in news for a day or two, then I gift you that happiness. God bless you. You want to know what’s in my veins? Hindustan runs in my blood. Please understand this,” added Kher.

Hitting out against Kher, Shah had earlier said, “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.”

Kher is an avid admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but Shah a staunch critic of the Modi-led Bhartiya Janata Party. The veteran actor has been critical of the center’s Citizenship Amendment Act that grants citizenship to persecuted communities from neighboring countries, but it doesn’t cover Muslims.

Actors have had different politician affiliations, but it’s seldom to have seen two actors hit out against each other. We will wait and see how Shah responds to Kher’s remarks.