Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah in 2012

Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions.

Quotes

• I have checked this with authoritative historians and Akbar never did attempt to start a new religion. This is a fact which was in our history books called the Din-e Elahi. But Akbar never used the word Din-e Elahi, ever. He called it Wahdat-e Elahi, which means oneness of the creator. That no matter who you worship, in what form you worship him, you’re worshipping the creator. You may worship a stone, you may worship a crucifix, you may bow your head to the Kaaba, you may worship the rising sun and do what you like, but you are worshipping one and the same thing. That was his belief. This is what I found out.
  • Naseeruddin Shah on misinformation about Akbar in history books and why it’s difficult to make historicals in India: ‘You run the risk of offending people’ 2023

• “These were people who came here to loot, the Mughals didn’t come here to loot. They came here to make this their home and that’s what they did. Who can deny their contribution?”... “If everything they did was horrible, then knock down the Taj Mahal, knock down the Red Fort, knock down Qutub Minar. Why do we consider the Red Fort sacred, it was built by a Mughal. We need not glorify them, but there is no need to vilify them either.”... “Tipu Sultan is vilified! A man who gave his life to drive the English away. (And it’s now being said), ‘Do you want Tipu Sultan or the Ram Temple?’ I mean, what kind of logic is this? I don’t think there is room for debate, because they can’t ever see my point of view and I can’t ever see theirs,” he added.
  • ‘Knock down Taj Mahal, Red Fort if everything Mughals did was evil’: Naseeruddin Shah says Mughals needn’t be glorified, but shouldn’t be vilified 2023

• In an exclusive chat with IndiaToday.in, when asked Naseeruddin Shah about how he sees this trend, he said, “Worthwhile films like Bheed, Afwaah, Faraaz, all three collapsed. Nobody went to see them, but they are flocking to see The Kerala Story which I have not seen, and I don’t intend to see because I have read enough about it.”
  • Naseeruddin Shah trashes The Kerala Story, compares it to Hitler's time when filmmakers were co-opted | Exclusive

• What these people don’t realise is that what they are doing is very harmful. In fact, films like Kerala Story and Gadar 2, I haven’t seen them but I know what they are about, it’s disturbing that films like Kashmir Files are so massively popular…
  • Naseeruddin Shah [1] [2]