Daily Times

Naseeruddin Shah has been grabbing headlines for his statements for the past few days. The actor, who was last seen in Taj: Reign of Revenge, has always been very vocal about what he feels. In a recent interview, the actor has now opened up about the futility of competitive awards. In fact, he even claimed that he uses Filmfare Awards as door handles in the washroom of his farmhouse!

In an interview with Lallantop, Naseeruddin Shah once again made an explosive statement. He claimed that he uses Filmfare Awards as door handles. He said, “Any actor who has put their life and effort into portraying a role is a good actor. If you just pick one person from the lot and say that ‘this is the best actor of the year’, how’s it fair? I am not proud of those awards. I did not even go collect the last two awards I received. So, when I built a farmhouse I decided to put these awards there. Whoever goes to the washroom will get two awards each as the handles are made of the Filmfare awards.”

He further added, “I don’t find any value in these trophies. I was happy when I received the initial ones. But then, trophies started piling up around me. Sooner or later, I understood that these awards are a result of lobbying. One is receiving these awards not necessarily because of their merit. So I started leaving them behind. After that, when I received Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, it reminded me of my deceased father who used to always be worried about my job and said things like ‘if you do this useless work, you will become a fool’. So, when I went to Rashtrapati Bhavan to collect the awards, I looked up and asked my dad if he was seeing all thisâ€æ He wasâ€æ and I am sure he was happyâ€æ I was happy to receive those awards. But I can’t stand these competitive awards.”

Recently, in an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, Naseeruddin Shah called the success of The Kerala Story a ‘dangerous trend’. He said, “On one hand, it is a dangerous trend, no doubt. We seem to be heading the way of Nazi Germany where in Hitler’s time, the filmmakers were co-opted, attempted to be co-opted, by the supreme leader to make films praising him and what he has done for the countrymen, and running down the Jewish community. So many master filmmakers in Germany left the place, came to Hollywood, and made movies there. Same thing seems to be happening here. Either stay on the right side, be neutral or pro-establishment.”