Kamal Haasan harassed in Toronto
SUBHASH K JHA
IANS TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2002 3:19:03 PM ]
MUMBAI: Noted Indian actor Kamal Hassan was prevented from boarding a flight at the Toronto airport in Canada because his name sounded like a Muslim one.
“You can’t have a name like Kamal Hassan, which sounds very Islamic, and hope to be left in peace in the American subcontinent,” Hassan said after his return to India.
He was in Toronto to shoot for his latest Tamil comedy, Panchathanthiram, and recalls the incident when he was taking a flight from Toronto to Los Angeles as a harrowing and humiliating episode.
"It started quite comically actually. The Customs authorities asked me what I was doing in that part of the world. I told them I am shooting for a film. They then asked me who my producer was. I told them my producer’s name.
"Then they asked me why I was flying to Los Angeles. I told them I was going for prosthetic makeup. They evidently didn’t know what that was. I explained I needed to assume a particular look for the character I’ll be playing in my next film.
"They then wanted to know who was paying my air travel bills. I pleaded ignorance about the nitty-gritty of my travel expenses. They said I must have all these important details handy for Customs purposes.
“I assured them my papers were in order. But one of the officers led me inside almost as though I was one of bad guys in Rambo,” said a sarcastic Hassan.
Reliving the incredible hours in the alien airport, Kamal smilingly says, "I requested them to let me make a call to my producer who incidentally was supposed to fly out from Toronto the same night back to India.
“The Customs authorities refused point blank saying cell phones weren’t allowed. They made me wait for half an hour and then interrogated me again. This time I was grilled like a terrorist.”
"‘Are you going for shooting to LA?’ they asked me. I said I was going to finalise my makeup. ‘Then why did you tell us you were going for shooting?’ they shot back. I told them I never said that, and what I said was I had finished shooting in Toronto and was now going to LA (California) for makeup.
"‘You mean to say you do makeup in LA and shoot in India?’ they shot back. I explained that the special makeup was being designed for a film. ‘So you work in the US. Do you have a work permit?’ they asked me.
“They then wanted to know why I was in Las Vegas before Toronto. I patiently explained that I was there for a convention of National Association of Broadcasters.”
“Then they suddenly said I could leave. When I looked at my ticket it said ‘refused.’ I asked them if this meant I couldn’t board my flight to LA, and they said, ‘No, you can’t.’”
Stranded in Toronto on a Sunday, a non-working day, Hassan woke up all his friends in the American embassy.
"When the customs guys were asked about the way they treated me they said I wasn’t polite. That’s a pure lie. I didn’t once throw my weight around or try to impress upon them who I am. I didn’t even roll my eyes or express my exasperation in any way.
"I didn’t lose my dignity. I’m a great fan of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. If the immigration authorities expected me to grovel, I would rather not travel. No, I wasn’t impolite. They were impolite.
“September 11 was impolite. So the customs authorities in Toronto were impolite to me. I didn’t know what hit me. I was upset because people were waiting for me in Los Angeles. My Tamil fans and friends in Toronto are very upset. But it wasn’t as humiliating as Gandhiji being thrown out of a train in South Africa.”
Hassan isn’t the first Indian showbiz icon to be harassed in this way. Earlier this month Aamir Khan was interrogated for an hour and even strip-searched at the airport in Chicago.
"His name is Aamir Khan and mine is Kamal Hassan. We can’t get away with Islamic names like these after what Osama Bin Laden did. As a matter of fact when I landed in Los Angeles earlier this month, I was given a completely cold treatment.
"In spite of all the security they’ve been properly had by Bin Laden. What better way to take revenge than to harass the entire brown-skinned population of the world? If you have an Islamic sounding name then it’s even easier for them. And if there’s a beard to go with the name like mine, nothing like it. "