Naseeruddin Shah is undoubtedly one of the most skilled and nuanced actors that Indian cinema has seen. However, he receives a lot of flak for his blunt and critical opinions on widley popular and beloved personalities. Recently, he wrote a piece on Dilip Kumar for Indian Express in which he talked about negative impact of Dilip Kumar's acting style on the cinema. While acknowledging greatness of Dilip Sahab's art, Shah stated that his stardom changed the dynamic of an actor in Bollywood and his successors merely mimicked him in their performances.

Shah wrote, "His mesmeric stillness and impeccable poise established a paradigm for good acting in Indian films. His economy of movement and gesture seemed to be little understood by his peers and even by those who came after, though many superficially mimicked his style."

Shah also claimed that Dilip could've done a lot from his position to improve the quality of Bollywood content in his later years. He wrote, “Given the position he was in, it is more than evident he didn’t do enough apart from acting and being involved in social causes close to his heart. He never passed on the benefit of his experience, didn’t bother to groom anyone, and apart from his pre-1970s performances, left behind no significant lessons for future actors."