Was speaking as an Indian, not a Muslim: Naseeruddin Shah to India Today

"I have no regrets about saying what I said," Naseeruddin Shah said when asked about the furious row sparked by the comments he made recently about religion and Indian society. "I do not backtrack at all."

"What I said was accurately reported. It's just that there were several other things that were attributed to me which I did not speak," the celebrated actor told India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai.

During a recent interview with a travelling activist collective, Shah, 68, said he worried for his children. If an angry mob surrounded them and asked if they were Hindu or Muslim, he said, they would have no answer.

Shah said his children weren't given a religious education. He also said in the interview that a "poison" had spread in Indian society.