Between 'too Muslim' and 'not Muslim enough', a lonely Naseeruddin Shah

In India's religiously polarised politics, the space for Nasseruddin Shahs of the world is ever shrinking

The script is now nauseatingly familiar. A prominent public figure expresses his disquiet about the growing intolerance in India. All hell immediately breaks loose. Polite commentary labels him a Congress stooge or challenges him to prove his patriotism equating Modi with the idea of Indian nationhood; the excitable immediately warn of that well trodden threat of shipping him across the western borders. 

True to form, India’s cacophony of news channels organised platitudinous debates where all extremist voices were amplified. One particularly enterprising network even managed to assemble members of Mr. Shah’s extended family as they have some special insight on