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Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah, like their fellow National School of Drama graduates Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher, are known for being vocal about their political ideologies. In an interview with The Lallantop, Ratna was asked how she and her husband manage to work with Anupam and Paresh despite their differing ideological views.
Ratna Pathak Shah on working with Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal
Ratna explained, “We all grew up at a time when two people can be friends, but can also have different ideologies. You’re right in your place, I’m right in mine. There’s dialogue, discussion, and even disagreement, but that doesn’t cause a rift in interpersonal relations. This is a more recent trend. This is neither our country’s culture nor I’ve seen anything like this before. I’ve been born in a home where my father was from an RSS family and my mom was from a Communist family. There was constant debate and arguments at our home, still we all lived together happily. I know that disagreement with an opinion doesn’t mean dislike of a person. This is a very new phenomenon, that if you don’t agree with me then you should be cancelled. This isn’t our culture, at least it’s not my culture, nor of anyone I know.”
She further continued, “They’re making us Indians fight with each other like kids do in the school playground. How bullies ill-treat weaker kids. Do we want to be like them? No. I won’t become one, nor will I let my kids become them either. Whoever I have an influence on, I’ll tell them, ‘We cannot become bullies.’ We have to become cultured human beings. That’s our culture.”
“Everyone makes so much noise about yoga these days. What does ‘yog’ mean? To culture yourself continuously and spend an entire lifetime making yourself a better human every day, in every way. That’s what BK Iyengar (founding yoga proponent) said. That’s what I’ve learnt from our country. These petty quarrels? That’s not my culture,” added Ratna.
Ratna and Naseeruddin have a history of working with Anupam Kher, dating back to 1988 when they collaborated on Vijaya Mehta’s film Pestonjee. More recently, Naseeruddin and Anupam shared the screen in Neeraj Pandey’s 2008 thriller A Wednesday! Paresh Rawal also has a professional history with the Shahs, having starred in Naseeruddin’s 2006 directorial debut Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota. Additionally, Ratna acted opposite Paresh in Abhishek Jain’s 2021 family comedy Hum Do Hamare Do. Ratna also played Anupam’s wife in Prashant Nair’s Netflix India show Trial By Fire last year.
