Nearly 70 films into his career, actor Shah Rukh Khan is still waiting for a hit.
An odd wish for the so-called "King of Bollywood" — one of the world's largest film industries — but he has his eye way beyond the box offices of India. "I'm hopeful to make one Hindi film that's seen by the whole world," said Khan, 44, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Monday.
"Like, 'Life is Beautiful,'" he explained. "It was an Italian film but everyone saw it and loved it."
His latest film, "My Name is Khan," is an attempt to reach those global masses. To be distributed Feb. 12 by Fox Searchlight (Fox is owned by News. Corp., which also owns and publishes The Wall Street Journal), Khan plays a man with Asperger's Syndrome whose marriage disintegrates after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and wants to meet with the president of the United States to help him win his wife back. On his way to Washington, he is detained and utters what appears to be a refrain: "My name is Khan … and I am not a terrorist."
A year after "Slumdog Millionaire" raked in eight Oscars, Khan admitted he'd love to top its success. "Nobody knows where a film is going to go when you finish it," he said. "I think this will … touch a lot more people in the Eastern and Western world than any film has done before. I would love it to be a bigger hit than 'Slumdog.'"
His tactic differs from other Bollywood actors attempting to cross into Hollywood. Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, for example, starred in the "Pink Panther 2." On Hollywood, Khan said, "I've never been asked." He jokingly speculated that it was, perhaps, because he doesn't have Brad Pitt's body and doesn't know kung fu. "I like that I'm the king of Bollywood though," he said.
In August, Khan was detained at Newark Airport when his name came up on a watch list. In India, the news made the front page of many papers and prompted fans to burn American flags in some cities. Some thought the incident was a gimmick to garner publicity for his movie. Khan called such an implication "lowdown and cheap," in a press conference Wednesday held with his co-star Kajol Devgan. He says he's detained often, but that "My Name is Khan" steers clear of being for or against racial profiling. "The issue we are dealing with in the film is bigger than detention," he said. "Goodness and humanity will conquer anything."
Khan also happened to be in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 promoting his film, "Asoka," a film about the emperor who spread Buddhism. A decade and nearly 30 films later, Khan ironically likens the philosophy of "My Name is Khan" to Buddhism, and not like some of the "fluffy stuff" he's done in the past.
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