This Person Doesn’t Respect You: Farhan Akhtar Breaks Silence On Naseeruddin Shah’s Criticism

Farhan Akhtar has finally responded to Naseeruddin Shah’s old criticism of his acting. In a new interview, Farhan said he won’t reach out since he felt the remarks lacked respect. He stressed that genuine feedback should come personally, not as a public dismissal.

Published by Ashish Kumar Singh
Published: August 17, 2025 09:06:00 IST

Farhan Akhtar didn’t exactly mince words when he responded to Naseeruddin Shah’s comments about his acting. These two played father and son in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, so it’s not like they’re total strangers.

Anyway, Farhan was chatting with Galatta Plus and finally addressed how he felt about Naseeruddin’s criticism—and why he didn’t bother reaching out to him after all that.

Is all not good between Farhan Akhtar and Naseeruddin Shah?

So, when the host asked if he’d tried to talk to Naseeruddin about the remarks, Farhan just shook his head. Nope, didn’t feel the need. He explained that he’s been in the film industry for a good 25 years.

In that time, he’s met plenty of actors and directors, some who started long after he did. If he ever feels the urge to critique their work, he prefers to do it personally, i.e. to call them up, sit down, and talk it out.

He believes that if you’re going to comment on someone’s creative process, it should come from a place of respect and genuine intention.

But in this case? Farhan didn’t get that sense from Naseeruddin’s remarks. He felt like it was just a public statement tossed out there, no warmth, no real respect.

Farhan stated, “I just felt it was just like a statement just thrown out publicly. I felt that then this person doesn’t respect you… so why should I reach out to a person who doesn’t respect me?”

He added, “It was very clear to me that if he really did genuinely feel that… he knows my dad, Shabana, my mom and me, we worked together in ZNMD, so it would have been the easiest thing for him to say that I want to speak to you, why don’t you come over!”

What exactly happened?

For context, this all started with an old interview Naseeruddin did back in 2013, where he basically said he wasn’t a fan of Farhan’s acting or most of his films, though he did praise Dil Chahta Hai and acknowledged Farhan’s many talents.

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