By Emb Hashmi
The international Bollywood legend king khan graced the cold Birmingham streets on the 26th January for a very special performance, the highly anticipated event was as predicted oversubscribed, the highest tickets were sold for in excess of £200 with a promise of a split second photograph with the superstar.
Some diehard fans were completely put off buying tickets, as they thought £200 was too extortionate for a split second with their hero.
The hosts of the evening CSN, we very proud to have such a mega star in their venue and had this to say, “It was the first Urban show SRK has done for over 10 years in Birmingham.” It was an honour and a privilege to be able to host and welcome SRK and the crowds as well as making a lot of fans dreams come true.”
King Khan the trouble with India..
Shahrukh Khans success has come with a high price, he has recently had some serious security issues in the country he calls home, the country that made him the superstar he is today, the country he loves, India.
Shahrukhs trouble with India caused a fury of international responses and sparked a fierce fire on the already delicate relationship with India and Pakistan, all of this started after a comment made by multi-award winning star who is considered to be one of the biggest film stars in cinematic history, with a fan following claimed to in excess of a billion. “There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country – this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return to what they refer to my original homeland,” the 47-year-old star had said.
The mega star was said to be so sick of being mistaken for some overwrought terrorist, “Ironically, I was interrogated at the airport for hours about my last name when I was going to promote the film in America for the first time,” he had been quoted in saying.
Khan unknowingly sparked fierce exchanges between India and Pakistan soon after these comments were aired to the world.
In the heart of all the controversy over the mega stars remarks on being a Muslim which led to Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed saying the star could move to Pakistan.
After speaking to reporters in Islamabad at a reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner, Malik said “that the people of both Pakistan and India love Shah Rukh and that the Indian government should provide security to Shah Rukh,”
India was of course very quick to react to Minister Maliks comments, and Minister Manish Tewari and Home Secretary R.K. Singh said “Pakistan should worry about the state of affairs in its own country. Instead of introspection on how minorities in India are being treated, he (Malik) should contemplate how he can improve the condition of minorities in his country.”
Khan has acted in more than 75 Hindi films and picked up more than fourteen Filmfare Awards making him the most awarded Bollywood actor of all time; and was given the Government of India honour with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema is also now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema all this makes him an easy target for any type of criminal threats and security is paramount in his life to protect both him and his family, however since his statement instead of India taking his personal security matters seriously they started to engage in spats with their neighbours who they have long had a difficult relationship with, the spats continued between the 2 countries with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that they don’t need Malik’s advice.
“Indians in India are safer and secure than the Pakistanis in Pakistan. We don’t need Mr Malik’s advice,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Khan personal response to all the political comments was published in a Outlook Turning Points magazine, published in association with The New York Times: “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.”
It seems the drama will continue, we will just have to wait for the sequel.
