Kabir Khan
Kabir Khan, who is enjoying the success of his film New York, recently had a shocking and a strange experience, when at a passport office he was asked, “How can a Khan be married to a Mathur?”
Kabir, who wanted to join his wife Mini Mathur in Malaysia, is shocked to learn that in a multi-cultural country like India, someone could ask such a question.
The director said “It’s hard to imagine that in this day and age, I am asked why my wife’s name is Mathur, when mine is Khan. Mini is anchoring a reality show in the Malaysian jungles and I wanted to be with her. But at the passport office they inquired, how can your wife and you have a different name and how can you both belong to two different communities? Though I’m used to it, still it is shocking to know that such a mindset exists in supposedly cosmopolitan Mumbai.”
Kabir says though he does not mind being questioned why he and his wife carry different surnames or belong to different communities, what hurts is the fact that his identity is put under a scanner and everyone sees him with suspicion just because he is a Khan.
In fact, the director points out that it wasn’t the first time that he had to face such an inquiry. Before this, while traveling to USA, he was questioned by the FBI officials for being a Khan and talking to his friends at the airport in the USA in a strange language which in this case was Hindi. He was only allowed to go when the authorities eventually confirmed that he was an Indian and had no links with Afghanistan.
With narrating this incident, Kabir has finally disclosed from where he got the idea of making a thought provoking film like New York.
Image Source: Meri News
