Salman didn’t give us the big family Eid photo, which is fine, it’s not the big big Eid.  Although this sounds like a nice one, remembering the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son by sharing food with the needy of your community, your friends, and your family.  And it is also a moment for one of my favorite traditions from the Indian film industry, the holiday greetings and messages to the fans from the stars.

I am sure there are other stars who did things that I missed, but I’ll just put up the 3 I ran across and you can comment on them, or on anyone else.

Shahrukh first, he and AbRam went out to greet the crowd.  I wonder if AbRam knows this is “his” holiday?  Because he is named for Abraham?  Although, I guess Diwali is also “his” holiday, since he is named for Ram as well?  Such a lucky little boy, having two religious traditions to grow up with.

I like that Shahrukh and AbRam have this tradition now.  It used to be him by himself, or the whole family.  But AbRam is so little, he can be easily protected.  And, I can also assume he likes the crowd.  There’ve been other times Shahrukh has gone out by himself, I assume AbRam didn’t feel like it those days.  But when he does want to go wave, why not?  I guess in their world it’s the same as letting your 5 year old press the elevator button or help push the grocery cart.  Makes them feel grown up and responsible and important.

And then there’s Aamir’s photo.  Which, I am ashamed to say, puzzled me completely.  Because the only person I could recognize was Aamir.  For a while I thought it was a photo of him with the family of some fan.

I finally got a clue when I recognized Avantika (Imraan’s wife) and thought “who is that hot skinny guy standing next to Avantika?”  And then I took a closer look, and by golly it’s Imraan!  Which means the young woman who looks like Sara Khan is probably Ira (but maybe not).  And then I found Kiran hidden in the crowd behind her glasses.  But I am at a complete loss to identify anyone else, and also wondering where Junaid and Azad are.  Maybe Azad is got sleepy and Junaid is putting him to bed while everyone else gets their photo taken?

And then there’s Randeep Hooda.  Who spent this Eid a different way, perfectly expressing the meaning of the holiday, the idea of sacrificing to help others.  And also perfectly expressing the highest goals of all religions, include his own Sikh faith.

I give Randeep a lot of grief, and I will continue to give him a lot of grief, in terms of his acting and his face and all of that.  But also, I have to give him respect for going to Kerala with the KhalsaAid group to give langar to refugees. (you can donate to them here).

And finally, since it is a holiday about sacrifice, the most sacrifice-y possibly Indian film song!  “Qurbani Qurbani”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qx03akOBCk