It was in the year 2016 when the versatile actor Naseeruddin Shah insulted a legendary actor who was not alive at that time. The veteran actor blames late actor Rajesh Khanna for introducing mediocrity in Hindi films in the 1970s and even called him poor. Talking about the change in the film industry over the years, the actor said that,
“Nothing has changed in Bollywood. It is the same as it was 50 years ago. The photography and editing are better but the subjects are as puerile as they were in the 70’s.”
He further said that,
“In fact, it was the 70’s when mediocrity came in Hindi films. That’s when the actor called Rajesh Khanna joined the industry. For all his success, I think Mr Khanna was a very limited actor. In fact, he was a poor actor. Intellectually, he wasn’t the most alert person I have ever met. His taste ruled the industry.”
This remark didn’t go well with late actor Rajesh Khanna’s daughter Twinkle Khanna who is quite vocal about the things she likes and dislikes. She found the remark disparaging. Twinkle took to Twitter to express her disapproval.
Sir if u can't respect the living ,respect the dead-mediocrity is attacking a man who can't respond @NaseerudinShah https://t.co/4EdyWmwiNj
— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) July 23, 2016
Not only Twinkle but Karan Johar also blasted Naseeruddin Shah for calling the late actor Rajesh Khanna a “limited, poor actor,” who was also the first superstar of the country. After realising that he did a mistake by calling the great Indian actor a poor, Naseeruddin Shah apologized,