At a recent Urdu Literature Festival in New Delhi, the Indian capital, Naseeruddin Shah made fun of Bollywood filmmakers by claiming that they had been producing the same kind of films for the last century.
The veteran stated, “It really disappoints me that we take pride in saying Hindi cinema is 100 years old, but we have been making the same films.” “I no longer watch Hindi movies; I find them to be very offensive.”
He continued, “Hindustani food is loved everywhere because it has substance. What substance do Hindi films have? Yes, they are being watched everywhere…They say, ‘How exotic, how Indian, how colorful’. Soon they will be bored of it because there is no substance.”
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“There is hope for Hindi cinema only if we stop seeing them as a means for making money. But I feel it’s too late now. There is no solution anymore because the films that are being watched by thousands will keep being produced and people will keep watching them, God knows when. So those who want to make serious films, it’s their responsibility to show today’s reality and in such a way that they don’t get a fatwa or ED doesn’t come knocking on their doors,” Shah explained.
On the work front, Naseeruddin Shah is awaiting the release of his hotly anticipated web series by Karan Johar, ‘Showtime’. The title is set to premiere on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar on March 8.