Page - 89 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

India for increasing intolerance, the BJP secretary of the state of Madhya Pradesh tweeted, “Shah Rukh Khan lives in India, but his heart is in Pakistan.”40 Khan, grand- child of an anti-British freedom fighter, then felt it necessary to modify his critique and offer his nationalist bona fides. Meanwhile, in recent years, Aamir Khan has taken on one social cause after an- other, especially by starring in and producing the television show Satyamev Jayete (Truth Alone Triumphs, Satyajit Bhatkal, IN 2012–14). Named after India’s national motto, the show dealt with national societal issues – from alcoholism to domestic violence, honor killings to casteism, solid-waste management to masculinity. While widely lauded, Khan is himself no stranger to anti-national abuse, with his patriotic criticism of India and willingness to address social ills often interpreted by Hindu nationalists as Muslim profanation of Mother India. Meanwhile, Salman Khan, who has played more Muslim roles than the other Khans, has burnished his own bona fides by playing roles that fit a certain muscular Hindu mold.41 Perhaps it is also ironic, or at least merely interesting, that these “Brothers Khan” rarely portray Muslims. In fact, Bollywood seldom features a Muslim character as 40 Divyanshu Dutta 2015. 41 See, for example, Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Brother Bajrangi, Kabir Khan, IN 2015), in which a Hindu devotee of Hanuman, Salman Khan, helps a Muslim Pakistani girl return to her family in Pakistan. Fig. 2: The stranger within. Saif Ali Khan as the secret Muslim terrorist Ehsaan/Khalid, Kurbaan (Rensil D’Silva IN 2009), 02:17:36. 88 | Kerry P.  C. San Chirico www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 73–102