<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4807.2300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <DIV class=storyheadline>a few hours later the story had changed to the movie star wasn't angry...but still, ya wonder what bizarre example of paranoia is next...talk about a panic driven society.</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>steve</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>Indian actress shaken by terror questions, wants to go home </DIV> <DIV class=timedate>Thu Jul 18, 5:31 PM ET</DIV> <P> <P>excerpt from <A href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020718/ap_wo_en_ge/us_plane_escorted_5">http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020718/ap_wo_en_ge/us_plane_escorted_5</A> <P>Two F-16 fighter jets escorted the Boeing 757 to the runway. Verma and her family were taken off the plane and questioned for four hours until authorities were satisfied they were nothing more than exuberant tourists. <P>Verma, whose fans in India call her the Julia Roberts of Malayalam-language films, was shaken by the incident. Although she understands the passenger's concern, it has left her wary about continuing the U.S. tour she and her performing relatives are making. <P>"I wanted to see New York and I was so excited," said Verma, the star of 18 Indian movies produced by her country's prolific film industry. "Now I just want to go home. <P>"We weren't doing anything wrong," she said in an interview from the Paramus hotel where her family is staying before heading to performances in Washington and New York this weekend. The family was flying to New York from Dallas via Chicago. "We were laughing, discussing the show and the performances." <P>When the American Trans Air jetliner started its descent, Verma, her parents, a sister and two male performers started talking excitedly about the landmarks they hoped to glimpse from the one window seat among the six passengers. They chatted excitedly, gestured out the window and switched seats numerous times. <P>When the plane landed shortly after 11 p.m., the family was hustled into an airport conference room. <P>"They investigated us, asked why we were coming," said Samyuktha's father, Ravi Verma. "They said the woman saw us passing notes to each other. We didn't do that. Why would we need to pass notes when we already speak a language no one else on the plane could understand?" <P>Samyuktha Verma said the police were courteous and seemed to quickly lose their suspicion. <P>"They were very friendly and they made us comfortable," said Verma, who lives in Thrissur in the southern Indian state of Kerala, and has twice won regional best actress awards. "They seemed satisfied with who we were." <P>Her films are typically romantic comedies or coming-of-age flicks. The most successful, called "Thenkasipattanam," involved two young couples who fall in love. <P>She said she understood the American fear of terrorism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. <P>"I know that what happened on Sept. 11 was a big disaster," she said. "Maybe she was scared, and being very keen and careful about passengers. When I see it from her position, I can understand. <P>"But do I look like a terrorist?" she asked. "Now I am afraid to be here, that if I go shopping and start laughing or talking too loudly in my language, someone will think I am up to something. I say to Indians, `Don't laugh during a flight. Just sit there quietly, read something or sleep.'" </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>