Mid-air NY drama for Malayalam star

Samyuktha, whose film Thenkasipattanam was among the highest-grossing Malayalam films ever, is on a tour of the US along with a Malayalam pop singer and comedian.

With 18 films behind her, some of her fans back home in Kerala consider her the Julia Roberts of the Malayalam film industry. But all that those aboard that flight on Tuesday night saw was a petite, brown woman, possibly ‘‘Pakistani or Middle-Eastern’’, probably a terrorist.

Still dazed, and in all seriousness, Samyuktha told The New York Times later: ‘‘The policemen had guns, and we had never seen anything like this, except maybe in films.’’

Samyuktha’s father Ravi Verma admitted to NYT that as they approached New York, he was giving his two daughters an excited monologue in Malayalam, pointing out the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the skyscrapers. ‘‘We were arguing over who would sit next to the window because New York is such a beautiful city,’’ Samyuktha told the paper. ‘‘I don’t know, maybe they thought we were choosing targets or something,’’ Verma said in an interview at his hotel in New Jersey.

When they landed at LaGuardia Airport, New York, at 11.05 pm, the Vermas, their two companions — Malayalam pop singer Biju Narayanan, and Jairaj Kattanellur, a satirist and mimic — and another Indian man who happened to be sitting nearby were taken into custody.

The interrogation lasted for almost four hours. The men were asked what they were doing in America, if they had ever been to Pakistan or Afghanistan, and what religion they practised. They found out that all the Vermas and companions wanted to do was to reach Queens College for a performance on Saturday.

Later, law enforcement officials said a passenger on the flight had been alarmed by their behaviour and had alerted a flight attendant. ‘‘At least one passenger perceived the seven to be engaged in suspicious actions,’’ said Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority. Not that American Trans Air is sheepish about the incident.

A spokeswoman, Lisa Jacobson Brown, said later: ‘‘The only statement we are going to make is that A.T.A. is doing and will continue doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our passengers.’’

As Indians back home will recall, Samyuktha wasn’t the first local star to be mistaken for an Osama emissary. So was Kamal Hassan, who was detained for questioning at Toronto airport in May.

Samyuktha told NYT she first thought she would never want to come to America again. ‘‘But the police were very nice to us. They made sure we were comfortable and they treated us well. America is a good country, and I understand people are afraid of people who look different.’’

More like paranoid. According to Major Barry Venabe, North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman, the episode was one of 400 scares since September 11 prompting military escorts of a passenger craft.