'It's futile, complete waste of time, energy': Naseeruddin Shah on film promotions

Naseeruddin Shah has always dared to say things no other actor would, and this time is no different.

“I won’t spend my time and the producer’s money to do publicity for new releases. It’s futile, a complete waste of time and energy,” reasons Naseer, even as he has refused to indulge in mandatory promotional activities for his new film, Iraada, which opened this week.

This stubborn stance may irk producers, but Naseer doesn’t care. “Look, Aamir Khan didn’t go from city to city to promote Dangal; it’s one of the biggest hits of all times. I don’t do publicity. The only time I did it, the film didn’t do well — that was Dedh Ishqiya.”

There’s a growing belief among young actors that film publicity is a huge waste of resources for producers. One young actor, known to be practical and responsible, says, “Given a chance, I wouldn’t do any publicity. Sure, we collect crowds when we go to city malls, but not one of those people in the crowd, cheering for us, will come to see our film just because we asked them to. Sometimes, the budget for publicity of a film is almost the same as the budget of shooting the film.”