Naseeruddin Shah clarifies his ‘distasteful’ comments on Farhan Akhtar’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag; says media ‘exaggerated’ his remarks

Naseeruddin Shah and Farhan Akhtar

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has sought to clear the air over his past remarks on Farhan Akhtar’s performance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, after he recently expressed disappointment at the criticism. Naseeruddin now says his earlier comments were “exaggerated” by the media and that his words were taken out of proportion.

Speaking to HT City, Naseeruddin Shah said, “He is right, but I think my statement has been exaggerated a bit.” When asked what exactly was blown out of proportion, he added with a hint of humour, “I don’t think you need to be a genius to figure that out! Read both statements.”

The clarification comes days after Farhan Akhtar, in an interview with India TV, called Naseeruddin’s earlier criticism “distasteful.” Farhan said, “I have known him for so many years. We worked together on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. He knows me ever since I was a child. He is a great performer and a great actor, but the only thing that I didn’t like was that if you want me to improve in my work, then there is a way of communicating that... But to go in the press and say this I found that distasteful.”

Back in 2013, Naseer had made candid remarks about Farhan’s portrayal of the legendary athlete Milkha Singh in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He was quoted as saying, “I don’t care about Farhan Akhtar, and I don’t watch his films. I liked his first film, Dil Chahta Hai. He’s a tremendous person and has so many facets to him. I think it’s great he’s doing whatever he can. I’m not a great fan of his acting or his films. But I admire him.”

Also Read: Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani’s Dadasaheb Phalke biopic on hold over script concerns

He had also criticised the film’s authenticity, saying, “It’s a completely fake film. Farhan has no doubt worked very hard, but building up muscles and growing your hair is not exactly working hard on your acting. At least he should have tried to look like Milkha.”

Meanwhile, Farhan is preparing for the release of his upcoming film 120 Bahadur, slated to hit theatres on November 21.