Naseer my senior, love and respect him: Anupam Kher

Mumbai: Asserting that disagreements happen as you go through life, 

actor Anupam Kher on Thursday said he will not engage with his senior and co-star Naseeruddin Shah through the media because they can always reach out to each other and "hug it out".

Kher and Shah, who have known each other since their student days in Delhi's National School of Drama (NSD), have often sparred over their ideological differences. 

The most recent instance was when Shah said in a video interview that a cow's death was being given more importance than that of a cop. His comments, including on religious violence, came in the aftermath of the lynching of a police office and a man in Bulandshahr. 

"There is freedom to say anything in the country so much so that you can abuse even the Army... How much more freedom do you want?" Kher



had said when asked to respond. 

On Thursday, Kher was more circumspect and said Shah was a senior and "respectable actor".

Talking to reporters at the trailer launch of his upcoming film "The Accidental Prime Minister", he said, "He is my senior. It is his interpretation and he has the right. I love him." 

Kher also recalled an incident during the struggle days when he bought his first car and was noticed by Shah, his senior in NSD. 

"For me, that moment is more important. As life goes by, you can disagree with one another's ideas. He is a respectable actor and my senior. If I have to say anything, I will pick up the phone or go to his house and say, "Let's fight or hug it out'. I don't want to say anything through press," the actor said.