To be with the truthful

almaswithinalmas:

Theater director and filmmaker Feroz Abbas Khan [Gandhi, My Father] is one of them. “For me, Freida Pinto is a spectacular accident, a dazzlingly lucky by-product of a hugely successful film that grabbed popular imagination I have to admit that, like most, I remain mystified by all the attention she is receiving from the West. Strictly, as a director, I find absolutely nothing in her that is either extraordinary or interesting in terms of personality, talent or looks. She appears like someone available by the truckloads anywhere in suburban Mumbai! In Slumdog too, what great shakes did she do? I am sorry, but I just don’t get it …”

Fair enough, but obviously Hollywood did and does. Internationally revered directors like Woody Allen, Julian Schnabel and Jean-Jacques Annaud sought her out for their projects, such as You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger; Miral and Black Gold. She featured prominently in the list of Most Beautiful People, Top 99 Most Desirable Women, Most Stylish Women, Most Beautiful Faces in the hottest glam mags there. On the acting front too, she scooped up a slew of prestigious awards and nominations — BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Palm Springs International Film Festival, MTV Award for Best Kiss! — to support her glam, exotic image.

Khan acknowledges it all but suggests that most of it probably has to do with the “flavor-of-the-day” factor. He believes that in the West [read: Hollywood] the color white is not as hotanymore [Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Antonio Bandera] and so someone like Pinto is cool and just what the doc ordered. Dusky, slim, flashing eyes, wide mouth, she symbolizes eastern exotica, full-on!

If left to Bollywood, Freida’s chances of becoming a star were very slim. Because of her average “Indian” looks. Every other girl walking on the streets in Mumbai looks like her. Most of the sought after actresses in Bollywood don’t have average Indian features look at Katrina, Kareena Kapoor or even the recently launched Nargis Fakhri. Priyanka Chopra is one of the few popular actresses who actually looks Indian!

worldbyharoon:

Some Muslims are suggesting that the intentions of the makers of this show were positive. They were trying to portray a “positive-image” of Muslims when we are viewed as terrorists etc. That they were trying to make us fit into the Westernized society. If actual Muslim practices were shown, then…

I totally agree with whatever you have written and you have conveyed your point very well.

I have seen this phenomena in Bollywood movies. Recently, they have started including muslim characters in mainstream movies or sometimes even the main character is Muslim. Earlier they used to ignore muslims in the mainstream movies or would have one stereotyped character.

Most muslims are very pleased with this development. But when you really look at these movies you will realize that muslims are portrayed in a very secular manner and the intentions are clearly negative.See New York, 3 idiots or the more recent Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - the “Muslim” characters in these movies are shown drinking alcohol and partying.

These movies are sending out a strong message on how “moderate muslims” in India should behave and who should be called a moderate muslim.

almas88:

I would have to disagree. SRK may not be representative of all Muslims, but he does speak about salat in the video. I haven’t watched any other interviews about his views on Islam, but to me it implicated that he does practice aspects of the religion. We can’t condemn a Muslim by determining whether they are practicing or not - faith is something between an individual and God. Sure, he may have married a Hindu, but there are so many things we do that probably do not obey Islamic Sharia - so what gives us the right to judge others? The fact that he is in such an influential place and defends Islam is something that I find truly admirable. He could have just not sat for this interview at all.

Sadly, Zakir Naik has a huge following besides Wahabis. He is very popular amongst South Asians everywhere. Look at how many people watch Peace TV! Even my very religious but moderate grand-uncle finds him to be intelligent and filled with insightful thoughts. I always hear random people quote him.

I was referring to the general perception in India about how a “good”,”normal”,”moderate” Muslim should be.
The general perception which is influenced by people like Shahrukh Khan who claim to be “moderate” Muslims.
I am NOT judging anybody but like you said, Shahrukh Khan is a very influential person and his interpretation of Islam is propogated widely in the media. I find that his interpretation is twisted. For e.g. He has said many times that he keeps Hindu idols in his home and worships them.
We should distinguish between right and wrong.
It’s a sad commentary on our society that we look up to movie stars as “representatives of Islam”.

I didn’t know that Zakir Naik has a following outside India.
He is very unpopular here especially after he praised Yazeed(l.a). The ulama of the Ahlul Sunnah and the Shia came together(for once!) and categorically condemned him.