Let’s get one thing straight. Naseeruddin Shah did not call Anupam Kher a “psychopath”. The word he used was ‘sycophant’ in an interview which has gone viral. Anupam reacted with a dignified video where he can be heard politely (and rightly) wondering about Naseer’s career frustrations.
They have been at loggerheads from their early days as actors, and have never been on the same page even when they worked together in Subhash Ghai’s Karm. Now Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher have come out in the open against one another.
In an interview with the Wire Naseer says about Anupam, “I am not on Twitter. These people, the Twitterati, and I really wish they would make up their minds in what they believe in. Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don’t think, he needs to be taken seriously, he is a clown, any number of his contemporaries from NSD, NFTII can test to his sycophantic nature, it is in his blood, he can’t help it.”
Harsh words these, coming from an actor who is known to speak his mind.
Anupam hasn’t wasted time in reacting to Naseer’s grim rebuke. In a video posted on social media, Anupam has sarcastically attributed Naseer’s remarks to years of substance abuse. “What’s in my blood is Hindustan…if you get 2-3 days of fame by abusing me, you are welcome to it,” Anupam ends with a smile.
Interestingly a Pakistani news channel TAG TV in a news report can be seen supporting Anupam instead of Naseer in this fight of two internationally renowned cerebral actors.
The Indian entertainment industry knows there isn’t much love lost between Anupam and Naseer. Attempts at projecting a façade of bonhomie notwithstanding, the two stalwarts have always been at war, secretly or otherwise.
Now there is no going back.
