Farhan Akhtar wasn’t pleased by Naseeruddin Shah’s criticism of his acting being ‘thrown out publicly’: ‘I realized this person doesn’t respect you’

Now, 12 years later, Farhan Akhtar has responded to Naseeruddin Shah’s statement. He said, “It has to be done with a certain degree of love, and a certain degree of respect for the other person. I felt that it didn’t come from that place. I just felt it was just like a statement just thrown out publicly. I felt that then this person doesn’t respect you… so why should I reach out to a person who doesn’t respect me?”

“It was very clear to me that if he really did genuinely feel that… he knows my dad, Shabana, my mom and me… we worked together in ZNMD, so it would have been the easiest thing for him to say that I want to speak to you why don’t you come over,” added Farhan, who claimed that he’d also reach out to younger talent if he wants to give them constructive feedback. But he’d do so personally instead of commenting on their skills in public.

Naseeruddin Shah has not only worked with Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, but also shared a legendary association with their stepmother, Shabana Azmi. They starred together in memorable movies like Shyam Benegal’s Nishant (1975), Junoon (1979), and Mandi (1983), Shekhar Kapur’ Masoom (1983), Sai Paranjpye’s Sparsh (1980), Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar (1984), Gotam Ghose’s Paar (1984), and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Khamosh (1986). They’ll soon reunite after decades in Kapur’s Masoom: A New Generation.

Naseeruddin has criticised the work of not only Farhan, but also his legendary father, veteran screenwriter, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar. “You have copied every scene, you didn’t leave any of Charlie Chaplin’s films, besides Clint Eastwood is felt in every frame,” the veteran actor said of Ramesh Sippy’s 1975 blockbuster Sholay, which Javed co-wrote with Salim Khan.

Also Read — Naseeruddin Shah writes on Diljit Dosanjh controversy: I feel no need to prove anything, including my patriotism

Years later, after Naseeruddin Shah also remarked how mediocrity entered in the 1970s with the rise of the romantic superstar Rajesh Khanna, the late actor’s Haathi Mere Saathi collaborator, Javed Akhtar, said, “It’s simple – Naseeruddin Shah does not like successful people. I have never heard him praise any successful person. He criticises Dilip Kumar; he criticises Amitabh Bachchan.”

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