Naseeruddin Shah Criticises 'The Kerala Story,' 'Kashmir Files,' And 'Gadar-2,' Then Admits He Hasn't Watched the Movies

Naseeruddin Shah has criticised the film Gadar-2, starring Sunny Deol, for being "jingoistic" and "regressive."

Directed by Anil Sharma, Gadar-2 has achieved great success at the box office since its release on 11 August, earning over Rs 515 crore in India.

During an interview with Free Press Journal, Naseeruddin Shah expressed his concern about the growing popularity of movies driven by jingoism, which he believes is harmful.

He stated, "It's not enough to love your country, but to beat drums about it and create imaginary enemies. What these people fail to realise is the harm they are causing. Although I haven't seen films like Kerala Story and Gadar-2, I know what they are about."

Shah also expressed his disappointment that films portraying the truth of our times often go unnoticed.

"It’s disturbing that films like Kashmir Files are so massively popular whereas films made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times don’t get seen."

"But it’s important that these filmmakers don’t lose heart and continue telling stories. They will be responsible for posterity. A hundred years later, people will see Bheed and they will also see Gadar 2 and see which one portrays the truth of our times, because film is the only medium which could do that."

"It’s hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So regressive is a pretty mild word for what’s going on," Shah added.