Mumbai: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan said he felt angry and humiliated after he was detained and questioned at a US airport, sparking an uproar in India among his fans.Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was en route to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian Independence Day yesterday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport on Friday, he said.
"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.
After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.
"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the US for his upcoming film My Name is Khan, which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.
Indian newspapers on Sunday railed against the questioning of the Bollywood superstar.
"Anger erupts over Shahrukh's insult" read the front page of the Hindi-language Dainik Jagran, while the Mail Today declared "Humiliating religious profiling of iconic star at US airport shocks India."
A US consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter of Shah Rukh's detenion.
As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.
"Shocking, disturbing and downright disgraceful. It's such behaviour that fuels hatred and racism. SRK's a world figure. Get real!", tweeted actress Priyanka Chopra.