Naseeruddin Shah rubbishes Bollywood mafia narrative

The actor believes that nepotism can take one a certain point after which talent comes into play

Bollywood veteran Naseeruddin Shah has described the conversation following Sushant Singh Rajput's death as 'absolutely sickening', reported Hindustan Times. Shah believes that people are trying to voice their own woes with the industry under the pretext of the tragic event that happened in June. 

“It is absolutely sickening. I have not followed it. I felt deeply grieved when the young man died. I did not know him but he had a bright future and it was a waste of life. But I did not bother to follow the nonsense that’s being spouted by a whole lot of people. Every person who has any little frustration in his mind, in his heart, about the commercial industry, has been vomiting it out to the press. It is absolutely disgusting. I mean, keep these complaints to yourself, no one is interested,” he was quoted as saying.

The Dedh Ishqiya actor also took a subtle shot at actor Kangana Ranaut, as he urged people to have faith in the law.“No one is interested in the opinions of some half educated starlet who decides to take it upon herself to, you know, get justice for Sushant. If there is justice that needs to be done, I think we need to have faith in the process of the law and if it is none of our business, I think we should not concern ourselves with it,” he said.

He also dismissed the 'insider-outsider' debate that ensued following Sushant's death. “I don’t understand this insider-outsider nonsense that’s going on. I mean, it’s a whole lot of rubbish and we should be put an end to this. Why would not I, who have had a secure happy life as an actor, encourage my son to go into the same profession? Would not an industrialist do it, would not a lawyer do it, would not a doctor not do it? Would not anybody do it? You mean to say that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s descendants should not have become singers?” He added that ‘nepotism gets you to a certain point’, after which it takes talent for survival.

Among other things, Shah denied on their being a mafia in the industry.“This is all a concoction of certain imaginative minds, ‘the mafia in the industry’. Naturally, I’ll give preference to people I like and the people who I work well with. If they also happen to be famous, or they happen to be the children of famous people, how the hell is it their fault? There is no mafia. I have not ever felt any obstacle to my work. I’ve made very slow progress over the last 40-45 years in my profession, but I’ve never felt that there’s some obstacle that is preventing me from getting to where I deserve,” the actor said about the existence of a mafia in Bollywood.

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