ZAKARIA: He's been called the world's biggest movie star, with almost 70 blockbusters to his credit. His box office stake is said to be comparable to that of his Hollywood counterparts Tom Cruise and Will Smith, and you may never have heard of him.
But his contributions to the bottom line are so prodigious, he was invited to ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ. My magazine, "Newsweek", has named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world, and he stirs up such passion that his fans burned a U.S. flag after he was detained at Newark Airport last summer. Perhaps the TSA agents have never heard of him either.
The film he is here in the United States to promote when he was questioned is called "My Name is Khan", and, ironically, it's about racial profiling of Muslims after 9/11.
Shah Rukh Khan, welcome.
KHAN: Thank you very much, Fareed.
ZAKARIA: First, tell us about this incident. So you are, without any question, the biggest movie star in India, a billion fans some people say, and you get to Newark Airport and what happens?
KHAN: You know, normally I am kind of used to being -- having extra security checks, perhaps because of the name or the way profiling is done, even my kids, so I'm used to it. It's not something new. So –
ZAKARIA: They thought your fans were sort of being unruly or –
KHAN: Yes, I guess -- suddenly they started asking questions, what are you doing here and do you have a telephone number? I was going to give yours. Yes? I was going to -- you know, I took out my phone and they were a little angry about me taking out my phone. So I said, I can't give you a number until I find them out.
So I sort of -- I gave a few numbers and then they would go in, check, then they came and said what are you doing here? And so I said I've came here for a film. There were some strange questions like if you're a film actor -- I've come for a live talk, and they said if you have come for a talk, how can you be a movie star? So I said, you know, I talk also. (INAUDIBLE) acting films.
So it just got out of hand, and I guess it was a process, so they went on and on -- and it took a couple of hours.
ZAKARIA: But you -- you feel like you have had experiences like this before?
KHAN: Not quite like this, but -- not at the immigrations, but at security. I'm -- you know, initially, when -- post 9/11, I think, yes, there were instances when -- I guess your boarding pass gets SSS (ph) written on it, so you're taken on to the other side and you take off your shoes and stuff, yes?
ZAKARIA: Even your kids?
KHAN: Oh, yes, yes. They get very excited, because, you know, they get to put their feet on those little marks and stand like that. So they think they're being special.
ZAKARIA: Now, you're very -- you're relaxed about it. Does it -- does it not anger you, I mean, that you're -- I mean, you're –
KHAN: No. I said it before, Fareed. Like, you know, if I'm planning to come to your house, I have to follow the rules. It's as simple as that. I'm very practical like that. So I'm like, OK. I said, if I have to come to your house and you have a rule that I need to take off my shoes before I walk into your study, then I do that.
But I just -- just had an issue that, you know, for a country which has such outstanding processes and systems for everything, and they have a process and system for, you know, profiling people who are perhaps on a marked list, they should also have a system where people who come regularly, they should also be marked positively. And so OK, you know,
you can go –
ZAKARIA: Do you think this affects America's image in -- I mean, you're -- you're somebody who understands the power of images.
KHAN: Yes.
ZAKARIA: Does it affect America's image in a country like India?
KHAN: Oh, yes. I think so. Yes. I think all over the world.
I think, specifically, if I can just take one -- because I'm an entertainer, so I would take, say, tourism, you know? Just that way. You come to have fun, you want to go to Orlando, you know, go to the Disney or whatever, when you think about it, like I do now, I take them
to Europe now, my kids, if I need to.
Unlike -- (INAUDIBLE) and she was traveling domestically more than internationally, to be honest, because I think domestic travel is even more strict. So you do think twice. I think it does affect the image, and I'm sure it's in a lot of spaces (ph) also, not just wanting to come
to Disney. I'm sure it goes beyond that also.
ZAKARIA: And this is a big change, right? Because, I mean, 20 years ago, 30 years ago when I was growing up in India, America was the land of openness, of freedom, a sense of adventure.
KHAN: Absolutely. I think, it still is looked upon like that. And, you know, everybody wants to come to America, everybody loves America and has all the nicest things. Whether it's technology or businesses, whatever. It's the land of opportunity. And suddenly, the opportunity gets a little curtailed because of this. And you do think twice. And you know, would it affect me negatively, would it affect the family negatively?
ZAKARIA: So, now talk about this movie. Because the movie is really about this problem.
KHAN: The film is about a man's message or I wouldn't like to make it as strong as saying a Muslim's message, but an American who has been living here for years and who is married here, and post-9/11 how the lives of this couple gets affected. You know, it's like a butterfly effect. It's not directly related to the incident of 9/11. So, the film is not about terrorism or -- it's not dealing with 9/11. Or the sadness that followed around the world. But it's dealing with how some of the people we don't even know and some of the far corner of the world or in America affected without being directly linked to it.
And how, just the love gets completely disrupted because he's a Muslim man, married to a Hindu girl, both American, both have been living here for 20, 25 years. And how he has to go on a journey to explain to everybody that, guys, just because "My Name is Khan" doesn't mean I'm a terrorist. So, it's an emotional trip across America to convince the world. And I feel the film's relevance is that there is an issue as far as religions and ideologies are concerned in terms of the west and Islam and everywhere. And we have to accept it. But the thing is, I think as a Muslim, I've not been able to explain my religion to you well enough. So unless I do that, I don't have an excuse of saying, uh-oh, one second, these guys are taking it wrong. Maybe they don't know him. So, I think it's my duty as an actor.
ZAKARIA: Do you feel that Muslims have a special responsibility to explain their religion?
KHAN: See, if you were to look at it from one side and turn around and say, listen, you better know my religion. I think that's not fair. I think, we need to -- I think, not only do they need to explain their religion, they need to understand other religions also. And it's a dual process, just because somebody doesn't understand, of course they will take it wrongly or react to it wrongly. And I think it's a duty of every educated, maybe a little liberal Muslim to go out in the world and if he has the opportunity, like I think I have as an actor, I think we need to make sure, that's yes, this is what it stands for, this is what Jihad means, this is what tolerance means and this is what Islam means.
And whatever little knowledge I had, and I am not fully knowledgeable, and so I find out and try to promote that and tell people. And if you understand it, maybe you'll say it, actually no, it's exactly like how our discipline is. I think it's a reason for every Muslim to think about.
ZAKARIA: You know when George Bush saw Manmohan Singh at some event, the first time he had an opportunity chance to introduce his wife, Laura Bush, to Manmohan Singh, he said to her, honey, this is the prime minister of India. This is a country that has 150 million Muslims and not one member of Al-Qaeda. That was the way he thought of Indian Muslims. Why do you think Indian Muslims are not so radicalized? When you look, think about Pakistan, Afghanistan, you know, there's so much Jihad and terrorism in the Arabic. Indian Muslims have not succumbed as much. This is the second largest Muslim population in the world by some count. What, is there a secret?
KHAN: I think the secret lies within the way Indians are. We as people are more compromising and understanding. We do give a chance to everyone to say their point of view, listen to it, and not react really radically. Of course there will be sections which do it. And that permeates to the Muslims, to the Hindus, to the Christians, to every, you know, section in our society. I would like to believe it's like that. But I think that's the main reason. I think Indians by nature like people and they're compromising and understanding. Is what I'd like to believe, really.
Source:webnewswire.com/
