Naseeruddin vs Anupam: Ex-Guv Swaraj Kaushal defends Kher; Tharoor reacts

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, January 24

Actor Naseeruddin Shah called his industry colleague Anupam Kher a “clown” earlier on Wednesday, and now the latter has responded to the jibe saying Shah is a “frustrated” man despite all the acclaim he has won.

This left social media buzzing.

Another one to join the war of words controversy is former Governor of Mizoram, Swaraj Kaushal.

In a series of Tweets, Kaushal called Shah an “ungrateful man”.

“Mr Naseeruddin Shah, you are an ungrateful man. This country gave you all the name, fame and money. Yet you are a disillusioned man. You married outside your religion. No one ever said a word. Your brother became Lt General of the Indian Army. Have you not been given more than an equal opportunity. Yet you are unhappy. You speak of apathy and discrimination. When you do all the blabbering, it is your ‘conscience’. When Anupam speaks his pain on being declared homeless in his own country, it is ‘psychophancy’,” Kaushal said in one of the tweets.

“You are being thankless to the country that gave you everything. Kirron has been twice elected as a Member of Parliament. Anupam is a star in his own right. Look at his response. It is that of a gentleman. When you spoke, you looked small and petty. Suffice it to say that your anger is your frustration,” he added in subsequent Twitter post.

Kaushal, husband of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj who died last year, said he knows Kher for 47 years, who is an accomplished actor.

“Anupam was an accomplished Actor. When he would go up the stage, the audience was transformed into another world. He was a star, but down to earth. I know many people of his time. The stardom did not go to his head. My friend Anang and Chitra Desai who got to know them later tell me about him. The man has not forgotten his roots. He has not left his people. His family has a home in Srinagar. They are not able to live there because Kashmiri Pandits were hounded out of Kashmir. Is he not entitled to weep out his pain? What is it that you have and Anupam Kher does not have? You think you are a better actor than Anupam Kher? You are sadly mistaken,” Kaushal said in his tweets.

He also spoke about Kher’s wife Kirron Kher, who he said was an ace badminton player.

Also read: Naseeruddin Shah is ‘frustrated’: Anupam Kher’s retort to ‘clown’ jibe

Kushal holds the distinction of being the youngest Advocate General at the age of 34, and the youngest Governor at the age of 37.

Senior congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacted to Kaushal’s tweets on Friday. He wrote: “Governor Sahib, is it now anti-national to marry outside your religion? Or to criticize @AnupamPKher? You are entitled to defend a friend, but surely not on the kinds of grounds listed in this unfortunate tweet”.