Naseeruddin Shah is a Hindi cinema veteran, who’s been in the industry for over 4 decades. He’s always been a man who doesn’t mince his words and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Two years ago, he called Rajesh Khanna a “poor actor” and has always been vocal about the lack of credibility of film award functions in India. Seeing how our film industry is doing right now, you bet he had some things to say.

Naseeruddin Shah shared his opinion about how cinema serves as a record of time, and would not want 2018 to be defined by only one kind of cinema – Salman Khan Films.

The actor also spoke about how he feels cinema can never be educational. He told PTI, “I feel that cinema can’t change society or bring a revolution. I’m also not sure of cinema as a medium of education. Documentaries can be educative, not feature films. People see them and forget. The only serious function films can serve is to act as a record of their times.”

He shares why this is the reason he was part of a film like A Wednesday, and now, in Sanjeev Vig’s short film, Rogan Josh, which is set in a post 26/11 Mumbai.

“I consider it my responsibility to take part in such films. All my serious works are a representative of their times. Cinema will survive. These films would be seen 200 years later,” he said.

“People should know what the India of 2018 was like. They shouldn’t end up seeing only Salman Khan films 200 years later. India is not like that. Cinema is for posterity,” he added.

He also shared the pros of working in a short film. They don’t have the hassles a big film goes through. “The great thing about short films is that there’s no pressure of producers sitting on these filmmakers head and telling them who the hero should be and what kind of songs (to he used),” he said.

“They are having the freedom to make the kind of film they want to make without the worry of box office,” he later added.