A case of life imitating art has left American diplomats scrambling to soothe relations with Bollywood’s leading film star after he was detained as he entered the United States because, he said, of his Muslim surname.

Shah Rukh Khan was held at Liberty international airport in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday. He said that he was questioned for two hours by an official who apparently had no idea that he was grilling one of the world’s most famous men.

The actor, known as King Khan to hundreds of millions of fans across the sub-continent, told reporters: “I was really hassled at the American airport because my name is Khan. While all around people from India and Pakistan were vouching for me, these guys just wouldn’t let me through.”

Mr Khan’s eagerly awaited next film, My Name is Khan, is about an innocent Muslim’s experiences of being mistakenly identified as a terrorist in the United States in the wake of 9/11. The actor plays a man with Asperger’s syndrome, whose behaviour and ethnicity raise the suspicions of the US authorities. The fictional Khan then sets off on a trip to find President Obama and persuade him that he is not a terrorist.

The suggestion that the real Mr Khan, who was named one of the world’s 50 most influential men by Newsweek magazine this year, fell victim to the same kind of racial profiling depicted in the film, has provoked outrage in India.

Ambika Soni, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, said: “There have been too many instances like these in the US concerning Indians. There should be a tit-for-tat response.”

A headline in The Times of India said: “My name is Khan? Too bad. SRK feels the heat of American paranoia.”

Racial profiling involves the use of racial — or national or religious — characteristics to determine whether a person is likely to commit a crime. Its use on Americans is outlawed by the US Constitution, the 14th Amendment of which requires that all US citizens be treated equally under the law. However, whether it should be used to tackle terrorism has been hotly debated.

Mr Khan’s fellow Bollywood stars also rushed to condemn the US authorities, who have often been criticised in India for the allegedly insensitive treatment of Indian visitors.

Priyanka Chopra, one of Bollywood’s best-known actresses, said on Twitter, the online messaging service: “Shocking, disturbing and disgraceful.”

In Delhi, Timothy J. Roemer, the American Ambassador to India, said that the embassy was trying to “ascertain the facts of the case”. He added: “Shah Rukh Khan, the actor and global icon, is a welcome guest in the United States.”

US officials disputed Mr Khan’s account of the events. They said that he had been questioned at the airport for a little over an hour as part of the standard process for screening foreign travellers. He was allowed to enter the US when Indian diplomats intervened.

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