This photograph taken on November 14, 2014, shows Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan (L) with his wife Kiran Rao as they attend a screening of the documentary film 'After My Garden Grows' in Mumbai.STR/AFP / Getty Images
Aamir Khan is one of Bollywood's most beloved stars, and he is also now one of its most controversial.
Starting on screen as a child in the 1970s, the award-winning actor, producer and director has over the decades grown a career that has eclipsed almost all others in the Indian film industry, with the possible exception of the revered actor Shah Rukh Khan (who is also known as King Khan).
On screen, Aamir Khan has cultivated a warm, mischievous persona as the playful but thoughtful hunk next door, starring in hit Bollywood flicks such as 3 Idiots – which I particularly enjoyed, despite it running nearly three hours, like almost every Bollywood movie.
Off screen, he is sometimes as equally mischievous as his quirky characters: engaging in philanthropy and taking political stances that are at odds with Bollywood's reputation for shallow spectacle in a land of immense social problems. Mr. Khan is even the face of the Association for Democratic Reforms, a tireless NGO that releases detailed reports on the criminal charges lodged against India's myriad politicians, including the main political parties.
It is in his role as a social critic that the celebrated Mr. Khan – his hair and occasional beard speckled with grey – waded into a minor scandal that quickly gained national attention. He was appearing as a guest at a journalism awards ceremony and was engaging in a Q&A with a journalist. The conversation quickly veered toward the mood of the nation, which has darkened recently because of a number of anti-Muslim incidents, such as a man being lynched, and others being attacked, on suspicions of eating beef or slaughtering cattle – which is taboo to Hindus, who consider cows sacred.
With the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi now in power since last year, there is a growing sense – at least among Indian liberals and the representatives of minority communities – that India is growing more intolerant by the day, that the country's prized secular fabric is under unprecedented attack.
"I can't deny that I've been alarmed by a number of incidents," Mr. Khan told the host, to applause.
Mr. Khan answered another question on the topic and took a sip of water. But he then interrupted the next question and said he wanted to finish his answer. Things were about to get heated.
"I also feel that there is a sense of insecurity, there is a sense of fear," he said, as the roomful of journalists applauded louder.
"More than there was – " the journalist began.
"Earlier?" Mr. Khan asked, clearly understanding the man was asking about whether things have gotten worse since the election of Mr. Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Earlier," the journalist agreed.
"Yeah, I think in the last maybe six months, eight months, there has been a growing sense of despondency, I would say," he said, the applause growing louder. "I mean, when I sit at home and talk to Kiran [Rao, his filmmaker wife], Kiran and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time, Kiran says, 'Should we move out of India?' Now, that's a disastrous and very big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her child, she fears what the atmosphere around us will be, she feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is a growing sense of disquiet ..."
The reactions to his comments – which included protests outside the actor's house and condemnation from the government – were immediate and furious, for several reasons.
The first is that Mr. Khan is Muslim, as well as one of the most famous Muslims living in India today. What he says will be heard by millions through India's scandal-loving media, even if they never see the original clip. The second is that accusations of intolerance in India generally refer to one specific thing: radical Hindu nationalists attacking or criticizing India's 170-million-plus Muslims, either as beef eaters or potential agents of Pakistan. The third is that his comments struck many as partisan, not simply as legitimate social criticism, since he was implying things have gotten worse under Mr. Modi's government.
But the main reason his comments struck a nerve in India is because they were true, at least in part. And the truth hurts, particularly in a country as thin-skinned as India – where books and films are regularly banned. India may no longer have the epic corruption scandals it did during the reign of the liberal Indian National Congress party, which lost resoundingly to Mr. Modi. But with the BJP ascendant, many now feel that right-wing Hindu nationalist extremists feel newly empowered – that they can, in some cases, get away with murder.
Mr. Modi is frequently under pressure to condemn every fresh outrage, or bigoted comment from a fringe element of his sprawling political party, but he rarely does. And though his supporters may be at least partly right in saying none of this can be tied directly to Mr. Modi, the Hindu right that brought Mr. Modi to power has an obvious stake in silencing and downplaying any complaints about India's direction under his leadership.
The problem is that in India's highly charged and partisan political sphere, this gets vicious fast – and because there is always an actual risk that small events will turn into violent riots or mob justice, the comments seem more sinister when they are targeted at a member of a minority who says he and his family feel afraid.
Online trolls suggested Mr. Khan pack it in and move to Pakistan, thereby proving his comments about intolerance. Others said the fact that he had attained celebrity in India, or that his last film was commercially successful, are proof that India is actually tolerant – as though Mr. Khan should feel grateful that his films are not boycotted because of his religion. One Hindu nationalist leader asked if Mr. Khan found the Islamic State extremist group tolerant, as though all Muslims needed to take blame for its atrocities. His comments also stirred a debate about NRIs – or non-resident Indians abroad, many of whom support Mr. Modi – and how many of India's brightest actually did what Mr. Khan only mused about: left India for someplace better.
Mr. Khan's comments even made it to parliament. Home Minister Rajnath Singh took a swipe at the actor as he commemorated the 125th anniversary of the birth of famous Dalit leader B.R. Ambedkar, saying that despite many humiliations, Mr. Ambedkar never wanted to leave the country. The opposition boomed: "People feel like leaving the country because of you."
India, of course, is in general a tolerant, secular democracy. It is a beacon in an unstable region, and it is not at risk of collapsing into sectarian conflict. But India is still a developing nation, with many problems that need to be talked about honestly before they can be addressed. No one can deny that some forms of intolerance are on the rise, and it is worrying for the country's democracy that saying so will get you condemned.