Mumbai: Actor Naseeruddin Shah had expressed his opinions on the late legendary actor Dilip Kumar’s craft and said that the late actor ‘chose to play safe the way he did’ for which Shah received backlash online and people had mixed reactions on his comment.
Now, the actor revealed that he stands by the comments he made earlier and does not care what people have to say. In a new interview, Naseeruddin Shah said that he said what he did after careful consideration. He also addressed rumours of a turbulent working relationship with Dilip Kumar, on their sole collaboration, Subhash Ghai’s Karma.
Asked about the controversy generated by his op-ed, he told SpotboyE, “Those who decided to take offence at what I said about Dilip Saab should have read the entire article and they would have realised that my praise, though conditional, for his acting chops was nothing less than glowing. I practically ran out of superlatives when describing his acting abilities. My ‘complaint’ had nothing to do with that at all. However, the reaction of people who choose to see meanings where there are none doesn’t bother me… I said what I had to say, and if I hadn’t meant it I wouldn’t have said it.”
For the unversed, in his op-ed for Indian Express, Naseeruddin Shah had written, “Some of those works doubtless will survive the test of time but, given the position he was in, it is more than evident he didn’t do enough apart from acting and being involved in social causes close to his heart. He produced only one film, didn’t direct any (officially at least), never passed on the benefit of his experience, didn’t bother to groom anyone, and apart from his pre-1970s performances, left behind no significant lessons for future actors; even his autobiography is but a rehash of old interviews.”
Dilip Kumar died on July 7 after a prolonged illness. Coincidentally, Naseeruddin Shah was suffering from pneumonia and was admitted to the same hospital as Dilip in his last days.