Leading Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has told Sky News in a UK exclusive that she hopes her new film Buckingham Murders brings a “coming together of communities” between Muslims and Hindus.
The celebrated Indian actress said the murder mystery – set against the backdrop of last year’s unrest between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester, and at a time when sectarian violence between the groups is on the rise in India – is her attempt at subtly telling audiences to “hope for peace”.
“I strongly believe”, she told Sky News, that “at the end of the day, we belong to one human race.
“Everyone is under the same sun. We are standing on the same earth – so why should there be any issues?”
“I deeply believe in peace”, Kapoor Khan, 43, added.
“When you watch the movie, in a subtle way, we’re trying to talk about the fact it’s all about being together.”
Buckingham Murders, which is set in High Wycombe, is the multi-award-winning actress’s first film as a working producer.
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It follows the tale of a grieving mother and police detective Jaspreet Bhamra, Kapoor Khan’s character, who works on a missing person’s case for an Indian teenager – with the main suspect hailing from Pakistani Muslim origins.
Leicester’s ethno-religious tensions from last year – which saw violence, riots and marches between the communities – were subtly “woven into” the film for authenticity, Kapoor Khan told Sky News, but were not intended to make a wider political point.
Kapoor Khan herself is of Hindu origin and has an interfaith marriage with fellow Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan who comes from a Muslim background.
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It’s reported that the couple have received online abuse over the years about their sons’ names – Taimur and Jehangir – typically Muslim names.
Taimur is also the name of a 14th-century Turkic conqueror who attacked Delhi in the 14th century, while Jehangir is the imperial name for the fourth Mughal emperor in the 17th century who ordered the killing of a prominent Sikh guru.
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Buckingham Murder’s director, Hansal Mehta, told Sky News that while his project has multiple themes, at its heart is a “cry for peace and empathy”.
Hindu-Muslim tensions, he said, are an “undercurrent that has existed forever”.
“The truth is that it exists around us and yet we continue living our lives.
“You live in a country [Britain] where this kind of backdrop exists. So when a conflict situation arises… these prejudices that are deep-rooted… they come up… they come out to the fore”.
Mr Mehta added: “This polarisation is a global phenomenon now. We live in very polarised times. It’s getting worse.
“Whether it is between Jews and Muslims, whether it’s a Muslim and Hindu, the religious divide is getting wider and wider.
“It is becoming a means of manipulating people and staying in power worldwide. That concerns me as a filmmaker.
“I try to show it in whatever way I can through my work.
“I’m trying to connect human emotion to this larger, politically volatile world that we live in.
“A little bit of empathy is all that is needed.”
Buckingham Murders will be in cinemas early next year.
