Born a Muslim and brought up and married to a Hindu, Shah Rukh Khan is Bollywood's brand ambassador. The star of Bollywood, who is all the time all over the place, is troubled lately by the happenings in the Islamic world.
At the same time, he feels it is important for him to stand up and be counted, "to be standing for the goodness of Islam".
As much an ambassador for Islam as Bollywood, Shah Rukh says his childhood fascination with the Ram Lila hasn't changed.
"But as I've grown older, and I see what's happening to Islam around the world, I think it's important that even without full knowledge of Islam, I need to be very clearly standing for the goodness of Islam."
In an interview with the weekly news magazine, Tehelka, the Bollywood icon whose children are being brought up by the tenets of both religions says he stands for what a modern Muslim should be.
"I'd like people to know that Islam is not only about being a fanatic, or radically different, angered person, or one who only does jihad. I'd like people to know that the actual meaning of jihad is to overcome one's own violence and weakness. If need be, overcome it violently," says Shah Rukh. In an interview where he lays bare his soul, he gives a fascinating insight into his identity as a Muslim, a husband, a father, a son and a brother.
http://www.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=13843
-- My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty. - Jorge Louis Borges