'It's disturbing' as films like Kerala Story, Gadar 2 and The Kashmir Files finds popularity: Naseeruddin Shah

Eminent actor Naseeruddin Shah recently expressed his concern over the popularity of films like 'Kerala Story', 'Gadar 2', and 'The Kashmir Files', labelling it as 'disturbing'. Known for his candid expressions, Shah, who is currently in the news for his directorial venture 'Man Woman Man Woman', also starring his wife Ratna Pathak Shah, has returned to direction after a span of 17 years.

In an interview with Free Press Journal, when asked about the changing objective of filmmaking in Bollywood, Naseeruddin Shah opined that popularity now seems to be driven by jingoism, which he believes is harmful. He said, "Now the more jingoist you are, the more popular you become, because this is what has been ruling this country. It’s not enough to love your country, but beat drums about it and you have to create imaginary enemies. What these people don’t realise is that what they are doing is very harmful. In fact, films like 'Kerala Story' and 'Gadar 2', I haven’t seen them but I know what they are about.".

He expressed his disappointment over the fact that films



portraying the truth of their times, made by filmmakers like Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, often go unnoticed.

"It’s disturbing that films like 'Kashmir Files' are so massively popular whereas films made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times don’t get seen. But it’s important that these filmmakers don’t lose heart and continue telling stories. They will be responsible for posterity. A hundred years later, people will see 'Bheed' and they will also see 'Gadar 2' and see which one portrays the truth of our times, because film is the only medium which could do that. It’s hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So regressive is a pretty mild word for what’s going on. It’s frightening where filmmakers are being coopted into making films which praise all the wrong things and run down other communities for no reason at all. It’s a dangerous trend," he further added

On the work front, Naseeruddin Shah's directorial 'Man Woman Man Woman' is currently streaming on YouTube.