‘Naseeruddin Shah’s India Was One of Appeasement; This One Is Better’: Manoj Muntashir

Lyricist and screenwriter Manoj Muntashir said he likes present-day India more, claiming that the India he grew up in was one of “appeasement”. Muntashir’s remarks came after actor Naseeruddin Shah claimed he was disinvited at the last minute from an event at Mumbai University, calling the move both “insulting” and “disappointing”. Shah said a senior university official told him the invitation was withdrawn because he has often been critical of the “ruling dispensation”.

‘Naseeruddin Shah’s India Was One of Appeasement,’ Says Manoj Muntashir

Muntashir, speaking to IANS at an event, said that universities in India operate independently and are not directly governed by the government.

“I think universities are independently managed in this country. Universities are governed by the government. This is new information for me. I didn’t know this,” he said, before adding, “They have an autonomous management. Whatever happened, I don’t know about this incident.”

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Muntashir said he has immense respect for Shah, calling him a great actor. However, he claimed that India, where both of them grew up, was shaped by “appeasement”.

“But Nasruddin Shah is a very big artist. He is a very big actor. We all respect him a lot. I had read a statement. Maybe I was reading in today’s newspapers. That he said that the India in which I grew up is not that India. Maybe he is right. This is not that India. The India in which he was growing up and I was growing up, was the India of appeasement,” he went on to say. 

Muntashir stressed, “This is a new India. This is a better India. This is a good India. I like this India more.”

Mumbai, Maharashtra: On actor Naseeruddin Shah’s statement, lyricist and screenwriter Manoj Muntashir says, “…I prefer a new and better India…” pic.twitter.com/cqbRnUYIWo

— IANS (@ians_india) February 6, 2026

Naseeruddin Shah Says He Was Disinvited Last Minute

In a column published in a national daily, Shah said he was invited to Jashn-e-Urdu, an event organised by the Urdu department of Mumbai University, scheduled for February 1. However, on the night of January 31, he was informed that he did not need to attend, without being given any explanation. Shah went on to claim that not only this, but the organisers told the audience that he had refused to attend the event. 

Shah claimed a senior university official later told him he was disinvited because he openly makes statements “against the country”. 

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