The new star did not come out of AMU for giving Bollywood like Javed Akhtar and Naseeruddin Shah for three decades, why?

Last updated:February 26, 2025, 17:55 IST

Big artists like Javed Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah have emerged from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), but no big artist has emerged in the last three decades. Administrative strictness is believed to be the reason.

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Wall of Fame, Aligarh Muslim University.

Aligarh: Students studying from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) of Uttar Pradesh are making their mark in the country and abroad. There was no shortage of those who illuminated the name of this university in Bollywood too. Legendary artists and directors like Javed Akhtar, Anubhav Sinha, Naseeruddin Shah, Surekha Sikri, Dilip Tahil, Muzaffar Ali, Saeed Jaffrey and Kaifi Azmi have come out from here. But in the last three decades, no big artist has emerged from here. After all, what is the reason for this?

CEC: Where big artists used to leave
Aligarh Muslim University has an institution called Cultural Education Center (CEC), which works to enhance the talent of students. It has 11 clubs, including many artistic clubs like drama, singing, dancing, painting. Each club has a chairman, secretary and coordinator. About two and a half to three thousand students of the university are members of these clubs, which shows that even today the number of students interested in art and culture is quite high. But despite this, why did not any big artist have been able to get out of here in the last 25-30 years?

Difference between first and now
Mohammad Shams Dua Khan, secretary of AMU Debating and Literary Club, described CEC as a vibrant organization of the university. He said that students get all the facilities to enhance their talent here. Classes in the campus run till four o’clock in the day, after which students participate in CEC clubs according to their interest. The debating club alone has more than 1200 student members.
Former CEC coordinator Dr. F.S. Shirani says that now the university environment has changed a lot compared to before. He told that earlier the students used to get complete freedom, due to which they could work openly on their talent. But now an attempt is being made to run CEC like a department, due to which the creativity of the students is being interrupted.

Lack of independence became a big reason?
Dr. Shirani said that after studying, students could participate in arts like dance, acting, singing and music according to their interest. But now due to the restrictions of movement and administrative strictness, students are not able to enhance their talent openly. This is the reason that earlier the students who used to learn in this environment, later made a big identity in Bollywood and other fields.

AMU’s Kennedy Auditorium and Wall of Fame
AMU also has a large Kennedy Auditorium in CEC, where plays and cultural programs are organized. Apart from this, the Wall of Fame has pictures of big artists who have come out of AMU, which shows the glorious cultural heritage of this university.