In a Hollywood system that is now making movies based on inanimate children's toys, I'm glad that a film with a refreshingly original premise is making its way to the screen.

My Name is Khan follows Rizwan Khan (played as a youngster by Slumdog Millionaire''s Tanay "Middle Jamal" Chheda and as an adult by Shahrukh Khan), our Muslim protagonist with Asperger's Syndrome, who moves to San Francisco from India as a boy. He grows up to fall in love and marry Mandira (played by Kajol) and leads an idyllic life before the terrorist attacks of September 11 turn their lives and marriage upside down.

To help him come to terms with the changing climate of the US as it launches its War on Terror and American Muslims or people who may be mistaken as Muslim, Khan begins a determined cross-country trek to the nation's capital to have a discussion with President Obama, "random" security checks at the airport be damned.

Of course, I found out about this movie due to a classic American racial profiling kerfuffle. There was a significant amount of news coverage of lead actor Shahrukh Khan (one of the biggest actors in Bollywood) being detained and interrogated at Newark airport on his way to Chicago for a parade celebrating India's Independence Day from colonization just after finishing shooting for My Name is Khan. Man, the irony is just killing me right now.

My Name is Khan opens in select theaters on Friday, February 12.

The only thing that could get me more excited about this film is if Danny Pudi's character Abed from Community played Rizwan's best friend who also happens to be South Asian and have Asperger's. And I haven't seen it yet, obviously, but I'm thinking it's going to be far
superior to Valentine's Day or The Wolfman,
also opening this weekend.

Just a guess.