Naseeruddin Shah shouted at me after watching my shows, recalls Amruta Subhash: ‘I would rather see you failing’

Amruta Subhash shared how she was stunned at the blunt and honest feedback she received from veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah about her acting.

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah had a few words to say to Amruta Subhash after watching her performance on stage. In an interview with The Lallantop, Amruta shared that she was expecting ‘Naseer saab’ to praise her acting and was already quite proud of herself that she earned applause on stage. Instead, she got a scolding from him when Naseeruddin said that he is ‘concerned’ for her after seeing the performance. (Also read: Amruta Subhash was rejected from a dance group because of her skin colour: ‘Started believing that I wasn't beautiful’)

Amruta Shubhash opened up about what Naseeruddin Shah told him after watching her theatre work.

Why Naseeruddin yelled at Amruta

During the interaction, Amruta went on to recall the scenario. She shared that during her performance, there was one specific part where her character had to cry, and she would make sure to elicit applause from the audience in that bit. One day, when she noticed that Naseer saab was present, she did the same, and it made her feel proud. Interestingly, Naseer Saab sat for a second show of the play too.

After the play, she met him at the tea shop. She added, "He came to me, and he was like, ‘Amruta…’ I was like, ‘Yes sir’, and he said, ‘I watched your play’ and the proud me was like, ‘Okay and?’ He then said, ‘Beta, I am concerned.’ I was shocked. I was like I received so much applause for my work, why is he so concerned?”

He said you’re forcing yourself on the character

He then told me, ‘Beta, I watched both the shows, and you did the same thing for claps.’ He was very angry. He said in a higher tone, ‘I would rather see you failing doing something new rather than doing the same thing again and again for claps, okay?’ I was like, ‘Okay, sir, sorry.’ He asked whether the character even needed to cry. He said you’re forcing yourself on the character and not letting it explore anything new. You will be repetitive as an actor. Your career will be over. That incident changed things in me and shifted something in me.”

Amruta is a National Award winning actor who has worked in Killa, Vihir, Contract, Raman Raghav 2.0, Gully Boy, and Dhamaka. She was most recently seen in Chidiya which also stars Vinay Pathak, and Svar Kamble. Directed by Mehran Amrohi, the film hit theaters on May 30.