By: Entertainment DeskNew Delhi | October 22, 2025 03:57 PM IST 3 min readAnupam Kher states that he has huge respect for Naseeruddin Shah despite ideological differences. (Photo: Express Archive)Actor Anupam Kher often makes the news for his comments about film, religion, his family and more. The Saransh actor has also been in the news for his various rifts with his own contemporaries in Bollywood. In a recent interview, Kher addressed his falling out with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actor Naseeruddin Shah. While he explained both the cases with a calm demeanour, it seems clear that Kher still isn’t ready to bury the hatchet for at least one of the two situations.While appearing on the YouTube channel Zindagi with Richa, Kher was asked about his approach regarding disagreements with colleagues in the industry, especially Bhatt and Shah. He first explained the situation with the Sadak director and said that he has already put things behind him. Kher also admitted that Bhatt is the kind of person who has the courage to listen to someone who doesn’t agree with him.ALSO READ: Anupam Kher says he was ‘depressed’ after Saiyaara ‘wiped out’ his film Tanvi the Great: ‘It depressed me, made me feel very sad’“Bhatt sahab ko toh hazaar khoon maaf hai (He doesn’t need to apologise for anything). He is my guru, and he is almost like a father figure even though there isn’t a lot of age difference between us. We have that kind of a relationship where I can speak my mind in front of him, and he will listen to it,” said Kher.He added, “There was a brief period of time where he was cross with me, and I was waiting for anger towards me to subside. Because he knows where I come from.”Kher then moved his attention to Shah and reflected on the verbal back and forth the two of them had after Shah made some comments about Kher’s upbringing and his importance as an artist. He said, “When it comes to Naseer Sahab, I will always have a huge amount of respect for him, even though me holding him in that regard isn’t anything to boast about because the whole world respects him and his work. I just responded to a video where he unnecessarily brought up my upbringing. My family and my education have raised me to be a calm person, but if someone hurts my pride, they have taught me to respond.”He concluded, “You can’t keep everyone happy, and people don’t change. They have always been like that; it’s just that the mask hadn’t come off yet. Slowly with time people start showing their reality, and I am not really talking about Bhatt sahab or Naseer sahab. Like, I have stopped discussing politics with Bhatt Sahab, because every industry, including Bollywood, has become divided these days.”Story continues below this adIn one of the interviews in 2020, while defending Deepika Padukone’s move of supporting the students in JNU, Naseeruddin Shah had addressed Kher’s support for the government. “Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don’t think he needs to be taken seriously. He’s a clown. Any number of his contemporaries from NSD and FTII can attest to his sycophantic nature. It’s in his blood, he can’t help it.”Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd