Shah Rukh Khan’s acclaimed co-actor lashes out at ‘dangerous, opportunist’ Bollywood stars for causing riots with their films

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Asked about being political as an actor, he said, “This is a scam; to suggest that an actor cannot voice their politics. I am first and foremost a member of this society. This society is my primary responsibility… These people (actors) are afraid of the truth. They pretend that they are in search of the truth in their performances, but they recoil every time someone asks them about politics. Then why am I seeing you at a certain party’s rallies? Why am I seeing you in right wing films? You know that there were riots because of you, don’t you? You know that someone died? You are not an artist; you are an opportunist. You are a dangerous person for this society.”

Zeeshan said that he has no interest in being the sort of person who watches injustice from a distance, but the kind of person who does what they can to stop it from happening. Earlier this year, communal violence erupted in the city of Nagpur, when right-wing outfits demanded the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb. This happened following the release of the historical film Chhaava, which featured Aurangzeb as a villainous character who has Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj tortured and killed. The movie featured Vicky Kaushal in the lead role; Vicky and Zeeshan worked together in the film Sam Bahadur.

In a recent interview, director Anurag Kashyap said that he isn’t a fan of Chhaava, and refrained from commenting on Vicky’s performance. The two worked together on several projects that greatly helped Vicky’s career. “I don’t have much interaction with him much these days. I don’t judge him, because every person has their own reasons… I don’t repeat myself. What I wanted to say, I said,” he told The Lallantop.