Bollywood icon downplays being detained

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Bollywood icon detained at airport
Aug. 17: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan talks about being detained for questioning at a U.S. airport. KPRC-TV's Daniella Guzman reports.

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updated 8:40 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2009

NEW DELHI - Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is downplaying being questioned at the New Jersey airport.

Press Trust of India news agency reported Saturday that Kahn said he was detained for two hours because his name came up on a computer alert list at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. U.S. customs officials say Khan was questioned as part of a routine process that took 66 minutes.

Asked to comment on what happened, Khan told reporters at an Indian festival in suburban Chicago, "I think it's a procedure that needs to be followed, but an unfortunate procedure."

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He also said he does not want an apology from the U.S. government.

Khan said he was able to message a lawmaker in India who asked the Indian embassy in Washington to seek his release. Khan was let go after embassy officials intervened, the agency said.

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Jen Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, said the agency did not request that Khan be detained.

Khan, one of the Indian film industry's biggest stars, is in the U.S. to promote his new film, "My Name is Khan," which is about racial profiling.

Khan, 44, has acted in more than 70 films, and has consistently topped popularity rankings in India for the past several years. He is in the U.S. to promote his new film, "My Name Is Khan," a film about racial profiling.