Kirsten Mustain, Author

The detention of Shah Rukh Khan is not the first, nor the most urgent wake-up call the United States has received of late, but it is far more important than many of my fellow Americans seem to realize.

Shah Rukh Khan is one of the most famous men on earth. His fan base probably well exceeds the population of the United States, yet the average American does not have a clue that he even exists.

Furthermore, many U.S. news organizations, in reporting the story of how he was held and questioned for two hours at the Newark, NJ airport, called him the "Brad Pitt" or"Tom Cruise" of Asia.

As if Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, or any American actor is the quintessential measure of a movie star.

The truth is that, at this poin tin time, Hollywood has no actor who compares to Shah Rukh Khan. Very few people possess the absolute and indefinable star quality that this man exudes on the screen. It is my humble opinion that American has not seen a movie star of his caliber since Cary Grant graced the screen with his magnetic presence.

Shah Rukh Khan is a REAL moviestar. In Hollywood what we currently have are actors. Certainly we have some amazing and excellent actors, and I don't wish to detract from their talent or their stellar good looks. I adore Hugh Jackman. Johnny Depp is delicious.George Clooney is absolutely fine.

But Shah Rukh Khan . . .  well, what to say? He is one of a kind.

He is like young Krishna - Govinda they called him then - the divine avatar who played his flute in the forest and drew all the women from their beds with his beguiling music. Even though every woman answered his call, there was enough of him to dance with them all.

My sister, who is a Bolly-phile like myself, said it best, I think. She said when she watches Shah Rukh Khan she feels loved. It is the same for me, and billions of other women in the world.

I know Bollywood is an acquired taste for most Americans.

The first time I saw a Bollywood movie I was in an airport in Calcutta and I was appalled, yet fascinated. I found it cheesy and over the top (and honestly, the movie I saw, was not the best of Bollywood by any means). I was accustomed to the realistic and serious bent of American films. Nobody dances in American movies anymore.

John Travolta was the last really good male dancer to appear in an American movie. It has been a long time since Grease first hit the screen. 

I have come to love Bollywood for the very over-the-top quality that first shocked my American sensibilities. Bollywood movies are not afraid to be movies. They do not pretend to live in reality. They allow the fantasy to be a fantasy. Everyone dances. Everyone sings.They are a lovely, three-hour escape from earth.

And Shah Rukh Khan, with his soulful eyes and his dimpled cheeks and his wonderful acting and dancing talent, is not just a star in the Bollywood sky, he is the sun. King Khan.

Yet he was detained a questionedat an American airport because of his name, which nobody recognized as anything other than "Muslim" and therefore "threatening."

Racial profiling is a fact of life in this country, nevermind that most Muslims are not rabid terrorists any more than most Christians like to blow up abortion clinics and beat up gay people.

Americans would do well to sit up and take notice of the other countries in the world.

We have a wonderful country, and I am proud of it. But it is not the only country in the world, and we, at the very least, should realize that we exist in a world community.

The greatest part of living in a community is the joy of diversity - the convergence of different minds and different ideas.

At the very least we could have the grace and humility to recognize that there is a whole world beyond our borders, and the people who inhabit this world are important and amazing, too.