It’s sad Urdu considered language of Muslims: Shah

Tribune News Service

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi February 17

Actor Naseeruddin Shah said he felt sad that Urdu was considered to be a language of Muslims.

Speaking at the Urdu literary festival, “Meer ki Dilli, Shahjahanabad: The Evolving City” at the India International Centre (IIC), Shah said, “Jinnah (father of Pakistan) did a mistake by making Urdu the national language of Pakistan, thus branding it a Muslim language, though he himself didn’t speak Urdu. Urdu originated in Hindustan and I take pride in this fact.”

Still making same films

I have stopped watching Hindi films. Even after 100 years of Hindi cinema, we are still making the same films. We don’t get to hear the kind of lyrics that once dominated Hindi films. — Naseeruddin Shah, Actor

He said Azaan was the first sound he heard and Urdu was spoken in the family. However, Shah distanced himself from the language after going to boarding school at the age of five.

“My brother and I had forgotten Urdu in school. I deeply loved English and it became difficult for us to speak with Ammi (mother) who did not know English,” he said.

Shah felt a deep connection with Urdu only after Urdu poet and filmmaker Gulzar offered him to play the role of 18th century poet Mirza Ghalib in the serial Mirza Ghalib aired on Doordarshan in 1988.

Shah revealed that Gulzar originally wanted to make a movie on Mirza Ghalib starring Sanjeev Kumar, but the movie never took off. He even wrote a letter to Gulzar attaching his two pictures, requesting him to cast in the lead role.

“I was studying in a film school then. Though Sanjeev Kumar was a great actor, I was angry how could he portray Ghalib as there was a mismatch in weight and I had doubt if at all he knew Urdu. Unfortunately, Kumar died and even Gulzar Saab later told me that Kumar was not interested in the role. The film was never made and years later the role was offered to me for a TV serial,” Shah recalled.

Reminiscing his initial days in the National School of Drama in Delhi, Shah said in the 70s, the Barakhamba road used to be dominated with havelis and bungalows. “I enjoyed the winters of Delhi and then there was no fog. Streets used to remain empty and it was my experience in a big city. I fell in love with the city,” he said.

The ace actor urged young filmmakers to make relevant films and convey the message in a way that the Enforcement Directorate doesn’t knock their doors and “fatwa” was not issued against them.

“I have stopped watching Hindi films. Even after 100 years of Hindi cinema, we are still making the same films. We don’t get to hear the kind of lyrics that once dominated Hindi films. There was a time when I got acquainted with Faiz Ahmad Faiz after hearing one of his poems from actor Shammi Kapoor in a movie,” Shah said.

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