Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah recently spoke at an event about the repeated use of religion and identity for ridicule and sensationalism in Bollywood.

The veteran actor said Hindi cinema has a long history of stereotyping communities and using them for jokes, drama and convenient character writing.

Addressing the audience, he asked, “Which religion did Bollywood not make fun of?” He went on to describe Hindi films as “the masters of stereotyping.”

He added that Bollywood has mocked Sikhs, Parsis and Christians, while Muslims are often confined to a fixed mould.

According to Shah, Muslim characters are usually portrayed as the protagonist’s loyal best friend who eventually dies while trying to save the hero. He further added that laughing at others’ misery has become a “national attribute” of Indians.

“We cannot take a joke and laugh at ourselves. We get offended when someone else makes fun of us, but don’t think twice before making fun of someone else,” he said.

Shah blamed films not only for reflecting this mindset but also for encouraging it. “Our films have encouraged it and did it very consistently and deliberately,” he added.

He concluced that this was not a new issue but a long-standing habit within Hindi cinema, calling it a “100-year-old tradition” of making fun of other religions.