Germany’s favourite Gastarbeiter right now is Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan who’s currently shooting his new flick DON 2 in town. This weekend, he was swamped by fans outside a press conference with hottie co-star Priyanka Chopra at the Friedrichstadtpalast. Shah Rukh is one integrated Muslim – German girls want to touch him! – and it only took him a couple of weeks. Apparently, he’s even learned two words: “Achtung!” and “Danke!”
Funny, how integration is all a question of context. Bring cash, a film crew and bling-bling and it’s win-win for the Ausländer (even Allah-loving ones!) and Deutschland. One has to wonder whether Shah Ruhk has been following Germany’s “honest debate” about Islam sparked by mustachioed SPD bigot Thilo Sarrazin – who’s probably never watched Khan My Name is Khan, a rom-com about the persecution of Muslims in the US. The film was screened at the Berlinale 2010.
