Bollywood hero Khan to tackle Islam, terrorism in new movie

Dec 7, 2008

India’s top Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan will star in a new movie exploring the issue of Islam in the post 9/11 world and the misperception that all Muslims are terrorists.

“My Name is Khan” tells the story of six people with Muslim surnames who suffer suspicion and prejudice years after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

shah rukh khan
“The movie is about a Muslim person’s strife (in telling) people that ‘my name is Khan but I am not a terrorist‘,” Khan told reporters after being conferred the governors’ award in the southwestern Malaysian state of Malacca in recognition of his 2001 film “One 2 Ka 4″, which was set there and boosted its profile as a tourist destination.

The Indian Muslim actor, whose wife is Hindu, also condemned religious fundamentalism and denounced acts of violence, saying that the Koran does not preach terror.

“Islam does not in any which way tell you to be violent,” he said. “I think the whole concept of jihad, the whole concept of warring needs to be explained as Allah meant it to be in the Koran,” Khan said.

“(The film) is an attempt to try and do that in an entertaining way.”

Filmmaker Karan Johar will direct while top Bollywood actress Kajol Mukherjee, who has acted in several blockbusters with Khan in the past, will co-star.

Filming is due to begin later this month in Los Angeles and is scheduled for release a year later, Khan said.

The Bollywood star’s comments follow last week’s 60-hour Mumbai siege in which 10 Islamic militants attacked multiple targets including the landmark Taj Mahal hotel, killing 163 people including 26 foreigners.

Nine militants were killed, while one was captured alive.

New Delhi has increasingly pointed at Islamabad over the attack which has enraged public opinion and badly hit relations between the neighbours.

Earlier a crowd of more than 500 people thronged the Malacca state secretariat building to witness Khan being conferred the governor’s award.

The 42-year-old heart-throb is well-loved in Malaysia, a popular location for Indian films which have a huge following among ethnic Indians and the majority Muslim-Malays.