Naseeruddin Shah had stated the success of The Kashmir Files was ‘disturbing’ to him.
Pallavi Joshi says that she didn’t need to win the National Award for The Kashmir Files to shut down detractors. She also takes a dig at Naseeruddin Shah.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah’s comment on being ‘disturbed’ with the success of The Kashmir Files led to a debate of sorts on social media. “It’s disturbing that films like The Kashmir Files are so massively popular whereas films made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times don’t get seen. But these filmmakers mustn’t lose heart and continue telling stories,” he said in an interview.
Now, actor-producer Pallavi Joshi shares her opinions on Shah’s thoughts. Shah and Joshi had collaborated on films like The Tashkent Files (2019), Tahalka, Panaah (both 1992) and Rihaee (1988) over the years.
While she maintains her respect for Shah, she tells us that separating the art from the artist is possible only till a certain extent. Quiz her if she would want to work with Shah again and Joshi asserts, “Yes, provided they aren’t talking behind my back. We don’t work with such people because they won’t stay true to the project.”
But does she think that winning the National Award for The Kashmir Files will help shut down critics? “No, it had shut them down long back. It didn’t take a National Award to do that. I think the success of the film was enough,” says the actor, who is awaiting the release of The Vaccine War.
Joshi goes on to reveal that winning the National Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Kashmir Files came as ‘a big surprise’ to her. Talking about it, she remarks, “Even though I was very sure that the film would win, I didn’t think I would win. It was the kind of film I knew that wouldn’t go unnoticed.”
In 2021, Joshi won the National Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Tashkent Files while Agnihotri bagged the award for Best Dialogues. This year too, Agnihotri won the National Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration. For Joshi, the fact that she has won the top award of the country with her husband for the second time makes it even more special.
The actor says, “This has happened for the second time, which is a record. What makes me the happiest is that Vivek and I as a husband and wife duo won National Awards in the same year for the same film. We established the record last year and we’re repeating it this year. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. And while I’m on my third, Vivek has suddenly come from nowhere (laughs). He came into the industry much after me and he’s on his second National Award already, so I’m extremely proud of him.”