Ratna Pathak Shah says there was ugliness within the star system of the 70s, actors have been ‘obnoxious’ and ‘poor performers’

Actor Ratna Pathak Shah recalled in an interview how poisonous the star-culture was again within the Nineteen Seventies, when she was arising. Without mincing her phrases, she stated that many stars on the time have been ‘obnoxious’, and that decision-making wasn’t executed on the power of tales, however on the recognition of actors.

She stated in the identical interview with Pinkvilla that many film offers have been finalised in the lounge of her and her husband, Naseeruddin Shah, however that folks would look via her. It affected her self-confidence, however luckily not her marriage.

Speaking in regards to the ‘ugliness of the star system’, the actor stated, “The way in which the stars were treated versus everybody else. The way in which the content of films was completely driven by the star involved, and not by the idea of telling a story, unlike in the films of a certain number of directors like Bimal Roy, K Asif, Mehboob Khan. For them, the star was the carrier of the story. And they were big enough themselves so that the stars did behave.”

She continued, “But, by the time I was growing up in the 70s, the stars were… pretty obnoxious, sorry, in the way they behaved. And they were all poor performers, and they were all cruising on I don’t know what. So, it was hard to feel any kind of connection to that kind of attitude.”

She stated that by the point she began, Naseer had already been at it for some years. So, she had a good concept of what an actor wanted to do to get work. In reality, she stated, she discovered in a short time how tough it’s to get work. “People would come and talk to Naseer, but they just didn’t see me. So many films would be decided in our sitting room, but they just didn’t register that I was an actor, and I wanted to be a part of this world also.”

She stated that it was in all probability her fault that she couldn’t talk effectively sufficient. She additionally credited her husband for educating her the subtleties of performing, and stated that he ought to go away behind a handbook of some variety for the advantage of future generations of actors.