"Anti-National" To Criticise Anupam Kher?: Shashi Tharoor To Ex-Governor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called out former Mizoram Governor Swaraj Kaushal for his Twitter diatribe on actor Naseeruddin Shah, in which he said Mr Shah married outside his religion and called him a "disillusioned man".

In a series of tweets yesterday, Mr Kaushal, husband of BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj, slammed Naseeruddin Shah for attacking actor Anupam Kher and calling him a "clown".

"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," Mr Kaushal wrote in one of the tweets.

"Governor Sahib, is it now anti-national to marry outside your religion? Or to criticise Anupam Kher? You are entitled to defend a friend, but surely not on the kinds of grounds listed in this unfortunate tweet," Shashi Tharoor tweeted, quoting Mr Kaushal's post.

Governor Sahib, is it now anti-national to marry outside your religion? Or to criticise @AnupamPKher? You are entitled to defend a friend, but surely not on the kinds of grounds listed in this unfortunate tweet. https://t.co/9rcls9V1jH

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 23, 2020

Naseeruddin Shah, 69, is married to actor Ratna Pathak Shah and they have two children, Vivaan and Imaad Shah.

In an interview to The Wire, Mr Shah, while discussing the current situation in the country in the backdrop of the protests against the controversial citizenship law, spoke of the support the government was receiving from the film industry. "Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don't think he needs to be taken seriously. He is a clown. Any number of his contemporaries from NSD and FTII can testify to his sycophantic nature. It is in his blood. He can't help it," he said.

Actor Anupam Kher hit back at Naseeruddin Shah for criticising him.

Anupam Kher said Mr Shah made the remarks under the influence of intoxicants.

"If you could criticise Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Shah Rukh Khan or Virat Kohli, then I'm sure I'm in great company. And none of them has taken your statements seriously. Because we all know this is not you speaking. The substances you have been consuming for years have taken away your sense of judging what is right and what is not," Anupam Kher said.