Why hate Muslims when British looted the country: Naseeruddin

Story by  ATV | Posted by  AVT • 3 Years ago
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah

 

Naseeruddin Shah is undoubtedly one of the best actors of our time. He made agreat impact on Indian cinema. However today he feels, working in movies is somewhat boring and therefore is paying more attention to the theater. He believes that making a film like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is the need of the hour; the OTT platform is the future. His concerns are beyond cinema and art: he speaks of issues that concern India and the humanity at large. Shah even spoke candidly about his relationship with co actor like Anupam Kher with who he had slugged it out on social media. He spoke of many more interesting thing to Manjit Thakur of Awaz the Voice in an interview. Excerpts from the third and the last part of the interview:

We saw a Naseeruddin Shah in a film like 'Katha' in ‘Chashmebaddur' ...

I was not in 'Chashmebaddur'; it was Farooq Sheikh, my rival. (Laughs)

'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'is the most brilliant film in the genre of satire so far, Should it be remade? Who do you think can play your character in that?

Who will replace me..? I will be at my place. Who will replace Ravi Vaswani and Om Puri and Kundan Shah? Only Kundan Shah could have made this film. And Kundan tried very hard to write the sequel. The corruption that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro talked about was on a very small scale it was of the level of a policeman taking a bribe of 50 paisa from us. It has been 40 years since that film was made; today the policeman will take two lakh rupees and then only it will pinch us. The financial condition of all of us has improved. Now the corruption that is eating this country is on such a large scale that we have to include the entire political system in its story to make an ambitious film. Kundan (Shah) wrote the script but it was hard to find a producer. When he found one, Ravi (Baswani) - he died. I believe that no one can replace Ravi; the movie could not have been made without him. However, the answer to your question is yes, in our world today, there is a dire need for such a film. When 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' was released, I had to visit the income tax office for some issue. An official there took me aside. He told me I should make a film like 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaro', on the   (Laughs openly) income tax department. I told him that I don’t wish to get it from the income tax department.

You have also worked with directors who were not big names like in 'Teen deeware.' And now the era of OTT platform has come. Are the OTT film supporting the industry or destroying it?

No, these are not destroying the industry. When the TV came, people said it will lead to closure of cinema halls. The theater people said nobody would come to see our plays. However, today all the three - TV, theater and cinema halls – are continuing. The OTT platform is the future and the person in denial of its existence is living in a fool’s paradise. These days everything is turning into a personal experience and not a community experience. Whether listening to music, reading a book or watching a movie or a drama. Nowadays you can watch drama on YouTube. However, it is a different issue that it’s not tasteful. But one day, we will be able to film the plays and find ways to present those on the TV. Who knew Corona will come, and, God knows what all is in store for us in the next 50 years. However we cannot accept defeat. We need to find ways to say it and that it reaches the audiences. The medium doesn’t matter. I think I will get used to it (OTT) slowly. I believe that the cinema will not survive in the next 25 years. It is a matter of regret to say that the speed at which those beautiful buildings, dreamy places where we have seen many movies (laughs) after bunking the school, are falling one by one.

Single screen theaters are almost becoming a thing of the past...

Yes, it is over. We don’t know how long the multi-screen theaters will continu. Actually, their expenses are managed by selling popcorn and not from movies.

Which films of yours’ are coming?

In two years, I did a film 'The Holy Conspiracy' in Bengali. It was Saumitra Chatterjee's last film. It is in English, Bangla and Hindi. It has a strong antagonism on fanatics, orthodoxy and blind superstition based on an American drama. I and Soumitra Da are playing the roles of lawyers in it. Apart from this, I have done small roles in two films. One is Diwakar Banerjee's film 'Freedom' and the other new filmmaker Dhruv's 'Marich'. It’s produced by Tusshar Kapoor. Apart from that there is a web series 'Kaun Banega Shikharvati'. Shakun Batra has a new film that I am also in. However, I am bored of movies; these consume a lot of time and also demand a lot of hard work. Also the movies don’t come to my expectations. So I prefer short roles in movies. I conserve all my hard work for theatre.

You have had hated arguments with Aupm Kher. Have both of you announced a truce?

(laughs).. Anupm is a friend. I shouldn’t have said what I said about him. I said it in the heat of the moment. Though I am not withdrawing my remarks (on Anupam) and I stick to what I said, however, I believe I shouldn’t have said it during my interview because people didn’t remember many other important things I said in the it. I definitely spoke of more important things and nobody paid attention. On Anupam I made one remarks in the heat of the moment and t created a controversy. I felt sad about this.

What is your idea of Indian-ness?

This (Indian-ness) is our uniqueness and also greatness. We welcomed all the people; embraced them be it the Portuguese or the Uzbek, the English or the French. All people came here. The difference is that only Muslims are called invaders. I am not justifying evils like Mehmood Ghaznavi. However Mughals who are called invaders didn’t come to plunder India; they came to settle here.

If we can hate the Muslims so much we should have much more hate for the English who looted our country? What the People who love to abuse Muslims have to say about the English? If you go through history you will realize that in the sixteenth century how much the British took away from this country. My five generations are buried in this soil. We have been living here for 300 years. Many of my family members are in the Police and Army. If all these credentials don’t make me an Indians I have no idea what more I need for being acceptance.

I agree that inclusiveness is our strength and if we break this we are left with nothing. It s sad to see attempts are being made to break it; however I am happy that efforts are also being made to save it.