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i heard a story on NPR this morning as i was driving back from dropping Dreamr’s daughter off at home before school. it was about the new Bollywood release, coming out world-wide this weekend, My Name is Khan, about a Muslim with Asperger’s Syndrome. the news story highlights how big the star, Shah Rukh Khan, is in India, the challenges of being a Muslim actor in a predominantly Hindu country, and the aesthetic differences between Hollywood and Bollywood.
i came home all excited to share what i heard with Dreamr and his response was completely the opposite of what i was expecting. in the Indian press today the story is totally different.
according to the Hindustan Times, Khan made a statement about how Pakistani cricket players should have been picked for the Indian Premier League. this outraged the Shiv Seva, a sort of right-wing, anti-Muslim supremacist political party/group, which has now threatened violence if the film is released in Mumbai tomorrow. so this is really a politically-charged film release, which could also have a big impact on expected revenue for the film’s production company, Dharma Productions, not to mention the cinemas.
there was nothing of the sort like that in the NPR story. in that story, Khan says there are aspects of “Islam that need to be addressed now.” the subtitle of the film is “and I am not a Terrorist”, pointing to the irony of Khan’s two-hour detainment in the U.S. for questioning shortly after he finished filming his latest release. but he states how secular India is, and suggests that Muslims don’t have those same issues (of being seen as terrorists) in India. that is the political aspect discussed on NPR.
the differences are understandable. American audiences don’t know very much about Bollywood, and don’t care very much if there will be rioting in the streets tomorrow night if the film is shown. but instead of a story that spends more time on the appeal of the Bollywood formula than anything else, at least mentioning the political complexities wouldn’t make me feel silly when i come home all excited to share this story, and Dreamr’s reply was how Khan had pissed off a bunch of non-Muslim cricket fans. huh?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123589668
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Mumbai-halls-not-to-screen-My-Name-Is-Khan-stop-advance-bookings/H1-Article1-507767.aspx
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