They don’t reflect merit: Naseeruddin Shah on turning his trophies into washroom door handles

Naseeruddin Shah, the acclaimed veteran actor of Bollywood, has no fear of judgement when it comes to owning his truths, no matter how controversial they may be. The 72-year-old actor candidly revealed his indifference towards awards and confirmed a rather intriguing detail about what he did with the trophies he had received. “They don’t reflect merit,” he said, and so, he found another use for them!

In an interview with The Lallantop, when asked about the rumours surrounding his use of awards to craft door handles for his farmhouse near Mumbai, Shah burst into laughter and confirmed the truth behind it. "I don't find any value in these trophies," he explained. "Initially, I was happy to receive them, but then they started piling up. Eventually, I realised that these awards are often a result of lobbying, and they don't necessarily reflect true merit. So, I started leaving them behind."

But not all awards have disappointed the Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na actor. Shah further added that the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards reminded him of his late father. “He used to be so 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 this... He was... and I'm sure he was happy. I was happy to receive those awards. But I can't stand these competitive awards," he stated, adding that he had a rather strained relationship with his father and the award felt like a nod from him.

However, Shah passionately argued against singling out one actor as the best of the year, stating that any actor who invests their life and effort into portraying a role is a good actor. "How is it fair to choose just one person and say they are the best?" he questioned. Dissatisfied with the competitive nature of awards, Shah revealed that he didn't even bother collecting his last two awards.

Instead, he found a unique use for them in his farmhouse, where the Filmfare awards were transformed into door handles for the washroom. "Whoever goes to the washroom will get two awards each," he added with a hint of humour.

The conversation took an interesting turn when Shah discussed the unflattering comments he made about the late actor Dilip Kumar shortly after his death. Despite facing criticism, Shah stood by his words, asserting that death should not only invite warm eulogies but also open the door for truthful analysis of a person and their legacy.

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