Bollywood director says he has felt Indian Muslim's isolation first hand

By Subhash K. Jha
Samar Khan a leading Bollywood director says he that he has felt and experienced Indian Muslim';s isolation first hand. It is needless to say that the experiecne reflects in his works.
Samar says he has felt the discrimination in Mumbai first-hand. "It may not be on an obvious level. But it's there. If I praise the performance of the Pakistani cricket team a look would pass around the room. But if anyone else said it, it wouldn't be noticed. I don't want to be known as a Muslim. I want to be known as an Indian. Unfortunately, in these troubled times that we live in it's become embarrassing to be Samar Khan."
The character Javed Khan of the persecuted Muslim in Shaurya is inspired by what Samar has gone through. "Javed's character represents the predicament of the Indian Muslim today. Javed is willing to give up his life for the honour of the army uniform and is still looked on with suspicion. The discrimination against Muslims does exist. And it hurts. I pay my taxes like any other Indian, and I'm willing to give up my life for the country. Then why?"
Samar then tells a hair-raising story. "Recently, when I was trying to buy a house, five housing societies turned me down. If this can happen in Mumbai, I shudder to think what it must be like in Surat and Bhopal. I situated Shaurya in the army because I feel the army is the nation's moral guardian. I was in the National Defence Academy for three years. In my film Javed and before him his father have served the country in the army. And yet when Javed is accused of murdering a colleague he's held guilty even before the trial."

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