Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has lashed out at fellow actor Anupam Kher calling him a clown and asked people to not take him seriously. Shah also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being contemptuous towards students during the recent violent crackdown against them on several university campuses.
Speaking to The Wire website, Shah said that Kher was known to be a sycophant. “These people, the Twitterati, I really wish they would make up their mind what they believe in. Someone like Anupam Kher has really been vocal. I don’t think needs to be taken seriously. He’s a clown. Any number of his contemporaries from NSD and NSDI can attest to his sycophantic nature. It’s in his blood. He can’t help it.”
Hitting out at Modi for receiving no formal education and lying about his degree, Shah said, “And the contempt for students is what hurting me most of all. The contempt for the student community, the contempt for the intellectuals…It’s not surprising that the prime minister has no empathy or compassion for the students. He himself has never been a student. There’s a clip of him saying before he became the prime minister. ‘Maine to padhayi wadhayi ki nahi (I’ve never received formal education).’ Which was considered to be a very charming and candid statement at that time. ..This of course before he received his doctorate in entire political science.”
Shah said that he was not surprised by the Centre’s anti-Muslim stand while drafting the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act. He, however, said that he did not expect the Modi government to be so blatant.
In 2016, Shah had condemned Kher by mocking the latter’s claim to represent the interests of Kashmiri Pandits. He had said, “A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person.”
You can watch the full interview below