Naseeruddin Shah slams films that celebrate hyper-masculinity and 'feed into the secret fantasies of men'

While attending a literature festival, Naseeruddin Shah took a dig at films that celebrate masculinity and debase women. He also admitted working in some movies for money. Read on.

By Loveleen Kaur

Published on Feb 01, 2025 | 05:37 AM IST | 6.4K

Naseeruddin slams films that celebrate hyper-masculinity; 'It's actually very scary...'

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Naseeruddin Shah has been associated with the Indian film industry for decades. In his extensive career, the actor-director has worked in over 100 films and seen the highs and lows of Bollywood. While attending a literature festival, the actor spoke his mind about films that celebrate masculinity and feed into the secret fantasies of men. Read on!

At the Kerala Literature Festival, Naseeruddin Shah shared how the Hindi film industry has changed over the years. He shared that he doesn’t approve of films that celebrate masculinity and run down the femininity of the characters or films that debase women. While talking about the kind of films that are made in Bollywood, the veteran actor stated that he doesn’t know if they’re a reflection of our society or if it is a reflection of the fantasies of our society.

“I think the films which feed into the secret fantasies of men, who in their heart of hearts, look down on women, these are being fed,” The Indian Express quoted him saying. The Begum Jaan actor further opined that it’s actually very scary to see how much approval such films get from the common viewer. Calling it ‘terrifying’, he stated that this explains the horrendous things that happen to women in a lot of places in our country even today.

During the discussion at the festival, Shah also admitted to doing some movies only for the money. While he regrets doing those jobs, he is glad that the audience doesn’t remember the bad work and only pays heed to the good work he has done.

In the end, he stated that if 100 years later people want to know what India of 2025 was like, and they find a Bollywood film, that, according to him, would be a big tragedy. Meanwhile, on the work front, Naseeruddin Shah was seen in the 2025 action-thriller film, Fateh. It marks the directorial debut of actor Sonu Sood. Last year, he shared the screen with Vijay Varma in the Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.

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