Piyush Mishra (File Image: Twitter) New Delhi: Actor and writer Piyush Mishra has targeted senior actor Naseeruddin Shah, calling him out for his partial treatment of social and political issues.
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Mishra’s comments came after Naseeruddin Shah joined a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on October 2. The protest had been targeted at the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded his resignation.
In the video posted to social media, Mishra challenged Shah over why he hadn’t also spoken about “another bunch of issues” that had grabbed headlines over recent days.
One of those was Smit Machchhar, the Flydubai pilot who was assaulted by his co-pilot, an Israeli, after taking off on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. And he was lauded for helping to foil what could have been a disastrous incident.
Mishra also mentioned Jharkhand student protests and an event at the Lovely Professional University (LPU), in Punjab.
Piyush Mishra Questions Naseeruddin Shah
In the video, Mishra opened by greeting Shah as an old friend. “I thought you’ll be happy to see our veteran actor meeting the founder of CJP, Abhijeet Dipke,” Mishra said.
He then turned to his first question.
Mishra inquired of Shah the reason he failed to mention the bravery of Pilot Smit Machchhar, who was in the Flydubai cockpit.
The pilot saved the lives of the passengers and aircraft, according to Mishra. He asked Shah to say ‘congratulations to the pilot’ sarcastically.
What happened had drew huge attention in India after it was said that Machchhar had been bitten in the cockpit but tried to keep the plane from being flown into another aircraft intentionally.
According to The Guardian, the plane had 174 passengers on board. Despite being gravely injured, Machchhar was able to unlock the cockpit door and other people on the plane were able to intervene. The plane safely landed in Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented publicly on the pilot’s actions.
Mishra’s point was that Shah who had been vocal on social issues had no qualms in vocally admitting such an incident.
Mishra Brings Up LPU Student Protests
“Next, the actor addressed the agitation at Lovely Professional University.”
Mishra cited information of students clashing with police and Shah is urged to come up with a statement to support the students there.
He was obviously referring to Shah’s earlier remark that students had taught him more than the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India.
“Shah! When did the students start teaching you acting?” Mishra wanted to know.
He then said Shah must also say his views on the incident at LPU.
Beyond this, the comments contribute to the evolving rift between the two actors on the function of celebrities in public protests.
To contact the author: Aditya Kumar Aditya Kumar is a research scholar in the Department of Law, Government College Jharkhand Protest is Yet Another Bone of Contention
Mishra also revisited the protests by students in Jharkhand.
This year, he had himself visited Ranchi and shown support for students protesting against government examinations.
Earlier, Mishra had challenged sections of the film industry for not participating in the protests, and had also rubbished Shah’s statement that stars should not have spoken out.
In the latest video, Mishra said that he had once approached Shah for the students’ assistance.
According to Mishra, Shah replied by giving him a poem by a Pakistani poet.
“This is not what the students needed,” Mishra said.
He said the protesters required flour, lentils, bread and jaggery, not poetry.
Of course, this was meant as a sarcastic comment, but it concerns a factual conflict between the two actors, over the degree of practical support should be directed towards protesting students.
Why Naseeruddin Shah Is Facing Questions
Mishra’s new video was primarily triggered by Shah’s presence at the CJP protest in Mumbai.
Shah saw Abhijeet Dipke at the October 2 protest, where protesters had gathered demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The CJP has been protesting over the Election Commission and its conduct of the SIR exercise.
According to reports, many in the film industry turned up or backed the Mumbai protest, among them Shah and actress Shabana Azmi.
Mishra contends that the Shah has agreed to talk about some political and social matters but has refused to speak on other developments which, according to Mishra, require focus too.
Hence, Mishra employed the expression “selective activism” to describe Shah’s stance on public issues.
Did Piyush Mishra Call Naseeruddin Shah “Anti-National”?
The term “anti-national” was used in the headlines related to the controversy but there is a subtle difference in the most recent reports.
In the video being covered by all the big publications now, Mishra asked Shah if there were other issues that mattered more for him and alleged him of hypocrisy. Mishra did not use the quote in the new video to term Shah as “anti-national”.
The ‘anti-national’ framing, it seems, belongs to the broader social media and political debate about the issue rather than any distinctly identifiable quote from Mishra’s most recent utterance.
And that’s important because they are not the same.
It’s one thing to call a person out on their selectivity of activism and another to actually call him anti-national.
This Is Not Their First Public Clash
The fight between Piyush Mishra and Naseeruddin Shah started sometime in 2026.
The two actors had previously traded barbs over student protests and whether public figures should voice their views while students are protesting issues that impact them.
Shah had hit out at a silent Bollywood during student protests.
In an interview with The Wire, he used a metaphor that “if a celebrity has a bone in his mouth, he cannot bark. That’s why people are silent. They have a bone in the mouth.”
Mishra’s response came abruptly after he found himself drawn into the Jharkhand student movement.
He wondered why Shah was inviting other celebrities to participate in the conversation while not visibly doing similar support for the students he was showcasing, Mishra said.
The difference has again come to the fore following Shah’s repeated presence in the Mumbai CJP protest.
Piyush Mishra’s Earlier Jharkhand Intervention
Mishra’s views may be viewed with a tinge of bias as he went to Ranchi during the student movement.
He had a meeting with protesting aspirants and made a public appeal to Jharkhand Government to pay attention to their demands.
They students had been demanding several things like independent inquiry into the irregularities related to government recruitment exams.
What Mishra’s presence led to was him speaking out more about the duty of public figures to have a conversation with students.
What is his most recent complaint about Shah? Came from the same argument.
He is simply wondering why we are to publicize Shah’s worry for some movements and not for others.
The Smit Machchhar Incident
However, the mention of Captain Smit Machchhar has also become a matter of political and social significance.
According to police, Machchhar, who was the pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was attacked by his co-pilot inside the cockpit.
The reports said the jet was in a dangerous dive before the crew managed to recover.
However, even though he was injured, Machchhar could open the cockpit door and the hijacker was subdued by the crew and the passengers.
And the aircraft was re-routed and successfully landed.
