Rizwan Khan

**Rizwan Khan** is the main protagonist of *My Name Is Khan*. He is the wife of Mandira Khan and was the stepfather of Sameer Khan. Rizwan is played by Shah Rukh Khan.

## History

Rizwan Khan, a Muslim, grew up with his brother, Zakir, and his widowed mother, Razia, in a middle-class family in Borivali, Mumbai. His autism leads to special tutoring from a reclusive scholar and extra attention from his mother, all which leads to a heightened level of jealousy from Zakir, who eventually leaves his family for a life in San Francisco. Despite this, Zakir sponsors Rizwan to come and live with him after their mother's death. Zakir's wife Haseena diagnoses Rizwan as having Asperger syndrome. Rizwan also begins to work for Zakir's. He meets Hindu woman Mandira and her young son Sameer, born from a previous marriage. Despite Zakir's uncertainty, they marry and live in the fictional Banville, adopting Rizwan's surname as theirs. They also live next door to the Garrick family; Sam is close to their young son, Reese.

The Khans' perfect existence gets disrupted following the September 11 attacks. Mark goes to cover the war in Afghanistan but dies there. At the same time, the Khans begins to experience the post 9/11 prejudice, and Reese begins to turn against Sam. Their rivalry causes an eventual fight on a soccer field, where a bunch of older students attack Sam. One of them kicks a soccer ball at Sam, rupturing his spleen and killing him. A grieving Mandira blames Rizwan, stating that Sam died solely because of Rizwan's surname. Consequently, when Rizwan asks what he can do to help, Mandira sarcastically tells him that to be back together, he has to tell the people and President of the United States that his name is Khan and he is not a terrorist.

Rizwan, taking her seriously, thus sets out on a road trip to first meet President George W. Bush and later President-elect Barack Obama. He travels to the fictional Wilhemina, Georgia, and befriends Mama Jenny and her son Joel. While at a mosque in Los Angeles, he overhears violent rhetoric from a doctor, Faisal, who is quoting religious texts, and defies angrily Faisal's statements before walking out to drop a message for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While waiting in a crowd to meet President Bush, he says, "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist!", repeatedly. He is arrested due to misinterpretation as "I am a terrorist."

Rizwan is interrogated as a terrorist suspect but is released after a media campaign by Indian student reporters Raj, Komal and Bobby Ahuja, who prove his innocence by revealing his attempts to inform the FBI about Faisal. After his release, he returns to the hurricane-hit Wilhemina to help Mama Jenny, Joel, and everyone there, attracting media attention. Reese, seeing Rizwan on TV, finally confesses to Mandira his knowledge of what happened to Sam, and reveals the identity of the boys who killed him. She informs Detective Garcia, who has been assisting her on the case, and the boys, including Reese, are arrested. Mandira asks leniency for Reese, for his mother, Sarah.

Mandira joins Rizwan in Georgia. At the moment she arrives, Rizwan is stabbed by one of Faisal's followers, and is hospitalized. Rizwan survives and meets Obama, who tells him: "Your name is Khan and you are not a terrorist."