Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah has said that he is disturbed by the massive popularity of films such as The Kashmir Files, and The Kerala Story, adding that the filmmakers of these movies are doing something ‘very harmful’.

“Now the more jingoist you are the more popular you become because this is what has been ruling this country. It’s not enough to love your country but beat drums about it and you have to create imaginary enemies,” Shah said in an interview with Free Press Journal when he was asked if the objective of filmmaking in Bollywood has changed.

”What these people don’t realise is that what they are doing is very harmful. In fact, films like Kerala Story and Gadar 2, I haven’t seen them but I know what they are about, 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 it’s important that these filmmakers don’t lose heart and continue telling stories,” he added.

“It’s hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So regressive is a pretty mild word for what’s going on. It’s frightening when filmmakers are being coopted into making films which praise all the wrong things and run down other communities for no reason at all. It’s a dangerous trend,” the Bollywood actor further said.