Dubai: It may seem odd for an American to go to Asia, and not the Middle East, to learn about Islam after the September 11, 2001 attacks by al- Qaeda.
But US comedian Albert Brooks said this peculiarity underscores the basic premise of his satirical film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, which pokes fun at US ignorance about Arabs and Muslims.
The 19 suicide hijackers who struck New York and Washington in 2001 all hailed from the Middle East, which is also the birthplace of Islam.
"One of the subtle things I think the movie was trying to say is that the US government really makes no distinction, between Arab Muslims and South Asian Muslims," Brooks says.
"To the United States? and it's unfortunate ? all Muslims are the same. Once 9/11 happened, they're afraid of all of them, he adds"
In the movie, which premiered in Dubai this week, the US government sends Brooks to India, which is predominantly Hindu, and Muslim neighbour Pakistan to find out what makes Muslims laugh to understand them better.
But his mission fails, mainly due to his inability to comprehend local culture and social nuances, the basis of humour around the world.
Brooks' character, who is charged with writing a 500-page report on comedy among Muslims, arrives in Asia with preconceived notions of what constitutes comedy and is shocked that there are no US -style comedy clubs in India or Pakistan or that its people do not understand his brand of irreverent humour.
In one scene, he puts on a comedy show to an Indian audience where he cracks a joke about iconic nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody laughed.
And in Pakistan, the only laughs he got were from a bunch of men high on hashish who found him, not his jokes, hilarious.
After visiting mosques and temples in India and bonding with aspiring comedians in Pakistan, Brooks' character still fails to learn what tickles Muslims and manages to inadvertently fuel a political crisis between nuclear rivals Pakistan and India.
Brooks is well-known for films such as The Muse and The In-Laws.
His film is set for US release in January by Warner Independent, the art-house unit of Warner Brothers.
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