Indian cine star Shahrukh Khan detained at a New York airport for over 2 hours

New Haven, USA, Apr 13 (PTI) Indian cine star Shahrukh Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at the Yale University here. While Nita, wife of India's Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours, sources told PTI. 46-year-old Khan was to address a press conference at 2 pm and deliver his lecture at 4 pm at the Yale University. However, he arrived for the press meet three hours behind schedule and his hour-long lecture started at about 6 pm. "Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom," Khan said with some sarcasm addressing the students at the University. Earlier, when informed about Khan being held up at the White Plains airport in New York, Yale University officials "contacted and spoke with officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of US Immigration and Customs in Washington," the sources said. They added that Khan was "very very upset" at the episode and it "took time for the university officials to make him comfortable again." The actor, who left for India in the night, had visited Connecticut-based Yale University, which had conferred him with its prestigious Chubb fellowship. As part of the fellowship, Khan addressed a gathering of hundreds of Yale students, parents, faculty and other members of the Indian-American community at the Yale campus. Before beginning his address to the students, Khan, dressed in a chic black suit, said that it had been a long flight and thanked Ambani for getting him to the US. Ambani's daughter Isha is a student at Yale and is also president of the South Asian Society at the university. Khan went on to say that he was "detained at the airport as always." "It was nice, as it always happens," Khan said with a slight smile even as students in the audience gave out a large sigh and booed the US authorities when they heard Khan telling them he was detained. While Khan told the students he was stopped for about an hour and a half, sources said he was at the airport for over two hours. They said he told them that this is not the first time he has been stopped at an airport in the country and this has happened to him "three to four times before." The most recent one was in 2009 when Khan was detained at the Newark Airport in New Jersey. Khan had then said that he had been detained because of his last name. The private plane carrying Khan, Ambani and their group landed at White Plains Airport, which is about 53 kilometres from Manhattan, at around 12:45 in the afternoon. Sources said while everyone with him cleared immigration soon, he was stopped and had to wait till 2:30 pm before he was cleared by the immigration. Meanwhile, from talking about his son's single letter replies to his long messages and exhorting hundreds of Yale students to neither be afraid of failure nor to defying conventions, Khan charmed the university as he delivered his lecture. "Do not be afraid to defy conventions. Do not be afraid to destroy systems that kill art and your souls. Do not be afraid to be hungry. Do not be afraid to walk alone if necessary," Khan told a packed theatre during his 30 minute lecture. The actor said while he has everything he could have aspired for - success, fame, wealth and "three playstations" - none of these have any consequence to his happiness other than the "love of my children". After giving his lecture and answering a few questions, Khan danced to the song 'Chamak Challo' of his film 'Ra.One' and also recited a dialogue from his movie 'Don'. Khan was introduced to the students by Ambani's daughter Isha, who is a student at Yale. The young Ambani, who is president of the South Asian Society at Yale, spoke of how she had asked Khan to visit Yale when she had joined the university about four years ago. Her mother, Nita Ambani, who had accompanied Khan on the trip to Yale, was also present in the audience. The university said about 1700 people, including students, parents and faculty, attended Khan's lecture. Before the lecture, a long video montage of his movies, songs and famous dialogues was also played. Khan had flown from Mumbai with Nita Ambani in a private plane to be at Yale just for the day. As part of the Yale Chubb fellowship, Khan also attended a reception and dinner at the Timothy Dwight College, the Yale residential College that administers the Chubb fellowship. Over 120 Yale students attended the dinner where a small group also gave a dance performance. PTI