Aamir Khan breaks silence on PK allegations: 'We're not against any religion'

Aamir Khan and his 2014 Rajkumar Hirani film PK have finally resolved years of accusations. In an interview with India TV, the actor-producer addressed accusations that the satirical film promotes the idea of love jihad and disrespects religion head-on.

Aamir Khan clarifies the film's message about religion

Aamir stated, "They’re wrong. We’re not against any religion. We respect all religions and all religious people. That film just tells us to be cautious of those who exploit religion to fool the common man in order to extract money from them. You’ll find people like that in every religion. That was the film’s only purpose."

Although it became one of India's highest-grossing films, the film caused controversy among religious groups and social media users due to its portrayal of Aamir as an alien who questions blind religious rituals. The subplot about a Hindu woman's (Anushka Sharma) love for a Muslim man (the late Sushant Singh Rajput) from Pakistan was another source of controversy. As for the claims that this plot encourages love jihad, Aamir just stated, "This is just humanity. It’s above religion. When people from two religions, particularly Hindu and Muslim, fall in love and get married, that’s not always love jihad."

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Aamir Khan defends interfaith love through personal examples

Then Aamir used his family to illustrate his point. Nikhat, one of his sisters, is married to Santosh Hegde, and Farhat, the other, to Rajeev Dutta. In 2023, his daughter Ira Khan tied the knot with Nupur Shikhare. Aamir's ex-wives include Reena Dutta and Kiran Rao, both of whom are Hindus.

When asked who got to choose the names for his kids, Aamir responded it was his wives. He joked, "My kids have been named by my wives. There wasn’t any interference from my end. Husbands ki zyada chalti nahi hai (Husbands don’t have too much of a say)."

Meaning behind daughter Ira's name

Aamir explained that his daughter's name, Ira, is a variant of the name Saraswati, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. He said, "Have you heard of Irawati? It’s just that Reena wanted to pronounce it differently." The name, he continued, was borrowed from The Penguin Book of Hindu Names by Maneka Gandhi.

He went on to talk about Azad, his son from a previous marriage to Kiran Rao. Aamir clarified, "Azad isn’t a Muslim name. Haven’t you heard of Chandrashekhar Azad? He was also a freedom fighter. It’s a neutral name." The name also honours Maulana Azad, a notable liberation warrior and India's first minister of education.

Aamir Khan on identity

Aamir made the statement, "I’m very proud I’m a Muslim. I’m also proud I’m a Hindustani. Both of these statements are true," in response to the larger discussion of identity. He acknowledged that he receives criticism from various ideological sides, saying, “That only proves I’m doing the right thing.”

As examples of his corpus of work, Aamir cited his socially conscious television show Satyamev Jayate and his involvement with the NGO Paani Foundation. 

Cites Secret Superstar to dismiss religious targeting

“Have you seen the film Secret Superstar? What’s the religion of that family? So there’s nothing like that,” he said, referencing the 2017 film that dealt with themes of domestic abuse and gender discrimination in a conservative Muslim household.

The spotlight is on Aamir Khan's position on social and cultural issues due to his remarks, which come days before the premiere of Sitaare Zameen Par.