Recently, a clip of Naseeruddin Shah calling Anupam Kher “a clown” went viral on social media. In response to that, Anupam Kher said that he did not take Shah’s words seriously. Now, this war of words has been interrupted by late Sushma Swaraj’s husband, Swaraj Kaushal.
In the video clip, Shah can be heard saying that, “Any number of his contemporaries from NFD and FTII can attest to his sycophantic nature. It’s in his blood, he can’t help it.”
Swaraj Kaushal, in response to Shah’s words, posted a series of tweets addressed to Shah, in which he praises both Anupam Kher and his wife Kirron Kher. He calls Anupam Kher an “honest, upright and a self made man.”
He also says, “What is it that you have and Anupam Kher does not have ? You think you are a better actor than Anupam Kher ? You are sadly mistaken.”
Swaraj further calls Shah “an ungrateful man” and “a disillusioned man”. He has tweeted, “Mr.Naseeruddin Shah, you are an ungrateful man. This country gave you all the name, fame and money. Yet you are a disillusioned man. You married outside your religion. No one ever said a word. Your brother became Lt.General of the Indian Army. Have you not been given more than an equal opportunity. Yet you are unhappy. You speak of apathy and discrimination. When you do all the blabbering, it is your 'conscience'. When Anupam speaks his pain on being declared homeless in his own country, it is 'psychophancy'. You are being thankless to the country that gave you everything. Kirron has been twice elected as a Member of Parliament. Anupam is a star in his own right. Look at his response. It is that of a gentleman. When you spoke, you looked small and petty. Suffice it to say that your anger is your frustration.”
He concludes his twitter thread with a dialogue from Devdas, uttered by Kirron Kher.
“Naseeruddin Shah ! Bs, tumhare shabd ab meri maan ki maryada ko paar kr chuke hain...(Your words are now beyond my understanding)”
Soon after, Twitter erupted with criticism of Swaraj. Many started calling him out for his “bigotry”.
Others also questioned Swaraj’s claim that Shah was allowed to marry outside his religion.
One Twitter user called Swaraj’s tweets “a very public meltdown”.
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