When Naseeruddin Shah said that he doesn’t like Farhan Akhtar’s acting and films: ‘I really don’t care’

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah never shies away from making statements about other actors. In an old interview, he said that he did not like Farhan Akhtar’s acting and his films. He said that even though he admired Farhan, he doesn’t really care much about his work. Also Read: Naseeruddin Shah: When his views on Virat Kohli, Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna proved he is the most fearless actor

Naseeruddin is a award-winning actor. In his decads-long career he has won three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards, a Padma Shri and a Padma Bhushan awards, among many others honours. He is known for his work in films such as Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980), Ijaazat (1987), A Wednesday (2008), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), and Iqbal (2005), among others.

In a 2013 interview with The Times of India, Naseeruddin had said, “Farhan Akhtar’s films I clearly don’t care for. I liked his first film Dil Chahta Hai. He’s a tremendous person and has so many facets to him. Tomorrow I won’t be surprised if I hear that he cooked a 10 course meal to perfection. He sings, acts, produces films and writes, I think it’s great he’s doing whatever he can. I’m not a great fan of his acting or his films. But I admire him.”

Talking about the actors whose works he likes, he had said, “We have great actors like Irrfan, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani and Vijay Rao. He’s fantastic! Then there is Pankaj Kapur who has always been around. Even Kay Kay Menon is good but he has not got what he deserves. There’s also Manoj Bajpayee”.

Farhan is the son of screenwriter Javed Akhtar. He started his career in Bollywood as an assistant director with films such as Lamhe in 1991 and Himalay Putra in 1997. In 2008, he starred in and produced Abhishek Kapoor’s Rock On!! (2008), which bagged a National Film Award for best feature film in Hindi.

He then appeared in films such as Luck By Chance, Karthik Calling Karthik, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Dil Chahta Hai and many others. In 2011, he was seen in Zoya Akhtar’s directorial Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara – he also served as the producer of the film and wrote dialogues for it. The film won four Filmfare Awards. Last year, Farhan announced that he will return to the director’s chair with Jee Le Zaraa. The film will be a road trip drama starring an all-female cast of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt.