Nawazuddin Siddiqui says he has never been discriminated against on religious lines in Bollywood. Appearing on the podcast Unplugged, Nawazuddin said the rest of society should learn from Bollywood how to respect all religions. He quoted the example of Anupam Kher and his A Wednesday co-star Naseeruddin Shah and the mutual respect between the two.

What Nawazuddin said

“The rest of society should learn from Bollywood… Do you know that Anupam Kher respects Naseeruddin Shah a lot as far as acting is concerned?,” Nawazuddin said. 

“I’m a part of this industry. My country is beautiful. The love and respect I get here, I wouldn’t get anywhere else. I’m overjoyed to be among common people because of the love they shower on me, regardless of their own background. You wouldn’t see this anywhere else in the world. I’ve travelled to the interiors of our country; I don’t know what they show in the news, but the people of our country are beautiful, they’re innocent,” he added.

Ratna Pathak Shah's recent statement

Veteran actor Ratna Pathak Shah also weighed in on this topic in an interview with The Lallantop. On being asked how she and her husband Naseeruddin continue to work with Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher despite conflicting political ideologies, she said, “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.”

Nawazuddin was last seen in the ZEE5 thriller Rautu Ka Raaz.

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