Aamir Khan says PK wasn't against religion, addresses claims it promoted love jihad: ‘My sisters and daughter have married Hindus'
Aamir Khan finally addressed allegations against him that have been floating on social media ever since the release of his 2014 blockbuster, Rajkumar Hirani's satire PK. He defended the film against claims that it targets religion. Along with that, he also responded to the allegations that PK endorses love jihad.
'They're wrong. We're not against any religion. We respect all religions and all religious people. That film just tells us to be cautious of those who exploit religion to fool the common man in order to extract money from them. You'll find people like that in every religion. That was the film's only purpose,' said Aamir.
In the interview with India TV, Aamir also clarified his take on the scene in which he shows an Indian Hindu woman (Anushka Sharma) trying to marry a Pakistani Muslim man (late Sushant Singh Rajput). He said that when people from two religions, particularly Hindu and Muslim, fall in love and get married, that's not always love jihad. 'This is just humanity. It's above religion,' argued Aamir. He asked if his sisters and daughter marrying Hindu men is love jihad.
Aamir's sister and actor Nikhat is married to Santosh Hegde whereas his other sister Farhat's husband is Rajeev Dutta. Meanwhile, Aamir's daughter Ira Khan tied the knot with Nupur Shikhare last year. Aamir himself has married two Hindu women — Reena Dutta and Kiran Rao — in 1988 and 2005 respectively.
When asked while he married Indian women, the names of his kids are Ira Khan, Junaid Khan and Azad Rao Khan, Aamir answered, 'My kids have been named by my wives. There wasn't any interference from my end. Husbands ki zyada chalti nahi hai (Husbands don't have too much of a say)'. He revealed his first wife Reena named their kids Junaid and Ira. 'Let me tell you, Ira is another name for (goddess) Saraswati. Have you heard of Irawati? It's just that Reena wanted to pronounce it differently,' explained Aamir, claiming Ira's name was taken from former BJP minister Maneka Gandhi's book The Penguin Book of Hindu Names.
Aamir also explained that his second wife and filmmaker Kiran Rao named their son Azad after his legendary ancestor, Maulana Azad, who was a freedom fighter and the first Education Minister of Independent India. 'Azad isn't a Muslim name. Haven't you heard of Chandrashekhar Azad? He was also a freedom fighter. It's a neutral name,' said Aamir.
Aamir added that since he gets trolled from both sides of the fence, that only proves he's doing the right thing. 'I'm very proud I'm a Muslim. I'm also proud I'm a Hindustani. Both of these statements are true,' Aamir said. He pointed out that no other Indian actor has been as socially conscious as him.
Also Read — Aamir Khan recalls creditors yelling at him when father went 'almost bankrupt': 'They would say your father hasn't paid us back, very difficult period'
Case in point: his TV show Satyamev Jayate and his NGO Paani Foundation. Aamir claimed he brought attention to issues in Satyamev Jayate which cut across all religions. 'Have you seen the film Secret Superstar? What's the religion of that family? So there's nothing like that,' said Aamir. His 2017 blockbuster coming-of-age musical Secret Superstar, starring Zaira Wasim, revolved around the issues of domestic violence and curbed ambition in a Muslim family.
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