'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani': Ways of Being Shahrukh
'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani': Shah Rukh Khan As The Symbol Of Indianness SRK’s persona evokes the kind of Indianness that denies categorisation into singular, exclusive identities. And thrives on making others feel welcome. This essay was originally published in Outlook magazine, here. Illustration by Saahil. 01 November 2021 Following the arrest of Aryan Khan, as news and social media began churning out its toxic narrative of Shah Rukh Khan as a traitor and depraved parent, a poem by the poet Akhil Katyal went viral: “Wo kabhi Rahul hai, kabhi Raj/ Kabhi Charlie toh kabhi Max/ Surinder bhi wo, Harry bhi wo/ Devdas bhi our Veer bhi/ Ram, Mohan, Kabir bhi/ Wo Amar hai, Samar hai Rizwan, Raees, Jehangir bhi/ Shayad isliye kuch logon ke halak mein fasta hai/ Ki ek Shahrukh mein pura Hindu stan basta hai.” I too shared the poem on
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Sorry for contacting you via your blog, but I'm not sure how else to get you! We met several years ago in New York at the Harvey Molotch's "Outing the Water Closet": I've co- edited a book called Ladies & Gents. I'm off to South Africa to a workshop on urine diversion toilets next week and the organizers asked me today if I have any thoughts about interesting films/DVDs about toilets and gender. Naturally, I thought of yours and they're really keen to see it. It's a small group - about 10 people - but influential: all work in South African sanitation, either for various municipalities or for NGOs. Again, I realize this is VERY late notice, but is there any way we could find a copy? Can it be streamed anywhere?
I'd appreciate any advice.
Best, Barbara Penner (based in London, UK) b.penner@ucl.ac.uk