4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Aug 11, 2016 10:01 AM IST
Naseeruddin Shah upheld his comments calling Rajesh Khanna a poor actor and said Bollywood used and cast aside Rajesh when he was alive.
It was a packed house that greeted Naseeruddin Shah when he took centre stage at a masterclass organised by Neville Tuli of Osianama at the famous Liberty cinema in Mumbai on Tuesday evening. And staying true to his inimitable opinionated self, Naseer spoke about Rajesh Khanna and regaled the audience consisting of actors and fans with tidbits about his life, acting career and even personal affairs.
In the almost two-hour session, the conversation veered towards Rajesh Khanna, the late superstar on whom Shah’s recent uncharitable remarks of being ‘a poor actor’ had the industry up in arms.
Read: Twinkle Khanna slams Naseeruddin Shah for calling Rajesh Khanna ‘poor actor’
Talking about India’s first superstar and how the industry created him and cast him away, Shah said, “The start of plagiarism in Hindi movies began in the early 70’s – the mediocrity in music, script writing, story telling, acting everything. Who were the popular stars of the 70’s apart from Mr. Khanna? Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet Chatterjee. Does anybody remember these gentlemen? They were very big stars. There was also Jeetendra. The trinity of Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar was on the wane. The film industry needed a new icon and Rajesh Khanna filled that role. The fact is the industry created him, used him and cast him away when he was no longer a money-minting machine.”
When Tuli asked if that (use and throw) is the nature of the beast, Shah said, “Had Mr. Khanna been more on his guard, he could have prevented this from happening.”
Read| Akshay Kumar on Rajesh Khanna comment: Naseeruddin Shah apologised and it is over
Speaking about the recent episode where his comment about Rajesh Khanna being a poor actor elicited angry reactions, the Nishant actor reasoned, “Everybody who has got upset with what I said, none of them has contradicted what I said. They all said, ‘How can you say a thing like this. Have some respect for the dead.’ What respect did the film industry have for Rajesh Khanna when he was alive is my question. He had thousands of people outside his bungalow. Does that make him a great actor? So anybody who has thousands of people outside his bungalow is a great actor is that what you are trying to say.”
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To this Tuli pointed out films like Anand, Aradhana and others where Khanna’s performance as an actor was much revered. Replying to the same, Naseer answered, “Certainly. I am not denying that. I am talking of his contribution by and large. I loved his performance in Anand and I loved his performance in Aradhana. These are the two films of his which I can certainly say I like without any reservations. I don’t think I liked any others.”
Later on while addressing the media, Shah said there was nothing wrong in expressing an opinion. “If you speak your mind, there is nothing wrong with it. I suppose one should be at times a little diplomatic that is what I have been told. But I don’t see the merit in that. I think one should say what one feels and if you have ended up offending somebody then that is just too bad.”
Speaking about the apology issued later on from his side, the 67-year-old actor said, “I apologised to his family because I can understand their feelings. I have not apologised to anybody else nor have I withdrawn that statement.”
Naseeruddin Shah upheld his comments calling Rajesh Khanna a poor actor and said Bollywood used and cast aside Rajesh when he was alive.