Actors Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah had a very public feud in 2020 after Kher voiced pro-government opinions following Deepika Padukone’s controversial visit to JNU. The exchange played out online, with Shah making sharp remarks about Kher’s “blood” and upbringing, and Kher responding with equal force. However, in a recent interview, Kher revealed that Shah has since apologised.
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Speaking to Unfiltered by Samdish in an interview recorded around Independence Day, Kher said, “I still feel I have great respect for Naseer. However, he sometimes has loose-talk conversations about me.”
He then recounted a recent meeting at filmmaker HD Pathak’s memorial service, where Shah approached him. “We did meet recently where he apologised to me—said, ‘Sorry yaar!’ We met at HD Pathak’s death,” Kher shared.
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Describing their interaction, he added, “When we met there, he hugged me because I always hug him. I really like him a lot, and he is one of the actors who inspired me to get into acting. But I think sometimes he just says things like that.”
Kher also expressed a sense of concern, “I don’t want to say this out loud, but he is a brilliant and intelligent man and God has given him so much. Nobody is a bigger star than him in parallel cinema, yet I think there is some kind of bitterness that targets sometimes me, sometimes Dilip Kumar, and sometimes Rajesh Khanna.”
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What happened between Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher?
In 2020, Naseeruddin Shah, during an interview with The Wire, praised Deepika Padukone for standing in solidarity with JNU students despite being “in the top firmament.” In the same conversation, he took a swipe at Kher, calling him a “clown.”
Shah said, “Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don’t think he needs to be taken seriously. He’s a clown… it’s in his blood, he can’t help it.”
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This did not sit well with Kher, who responded on X (then Twitter).
He wrote: “I never bad-mouthed you or said anything rude to you. But now, I would like to say that you have spent your entire life, despite all the success, in frustration. If you can criticise Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Shah Rukh Khan and Virat Kohli, then I am sure I am in great company.”
He continued: “None of these people took your statements seriously… This is not you talking but all the substances you have consumed for years. They have clouded your judgement. If saying bad things about me gets you headlines for a couple of days, then this is my gift to you.”
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The two actors last worked together in the 2018 film Aiyaary, starring Sidharth Malhotra.
