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| Sunday, 9 May 2004 |
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Indian films script peace ties with Pakistan by Jayashree Lengade BOMBAY - Just weeks ago, Indian and Pakistani political leaders were the only ones talking peace. But since a historic cricket series that ended in April helped reduce tensions between the South Asian nuclear rivals, the Indian film industry is trying hard to script a reconciliation between the two countries. After years of churning out anti-Pakistan films that showed Pakistanis as militants, Bollywood film-makers are rewriting story lines to show Pakistanis as good guys and not as enemies bent on destabilising India. "It had to happen. Anti-Pakistan films will no longer do well with audiences," Indu Mirani, editor of the trade magazine Box Office, told Reuters in the country's film capital, Bombay. "Winds of change are blowing across the subcontinent." As part of the new celluloid diplomacy, a leading film-maker, Ram Gopal Varma, shelved his new project on international terrorism titled "Ek", or One, because the script revolved around militants based in Pakistan. The star-studded film, for which the director had signed on megastar Amitabh Bachchan, would have been India's most expensive movie ever at more than 800 million rupees ($18 million). Another Bollywood film in the pipeline, "Sarhaad Par", or Across the Border, shows the Indian and Pakistani armies on a joint mission to fight terrorism. "My film will be an emotional drama. It is about restoring peace on either side of the border," said film-maker Raman Kumar, while shooting in the lush environs of Bombay's Film City. Kumar said he was keen to cast a Pakistani actor as an upright soldier, a role he had specially created after the recent peace moves. Another young director, Farhan Akhtar, has broken away from the stereotypical Bollywood formula of jingoistic war films with a movie set against the backdrop of an Indian offensive against Pakistan-backed infiltrators in Kashmir in the summer of 1999. "The film does not probe why the intruders were there on the border. It shows the human side of a soldier's life," said Akhtar, whose new film, "Lakshya", is due for an end-June release. "I don't show my actors indulging in jingoistic talk," said the pony-tailed director, who shot his film in the treacherous mountainous terrain of northern Ladakh. It's a long way from the time the Indian industry, which produces nearly 1,000 films a year, made movies where the villains of the piece most often were Islamic militants. As the two countries edge closer, stars and directors from the two countries have exchanged visits and a group of Indian film-makers plans to go to Pakistan to seek an end to a more than 50-year ban on screening Indian films. Bollywood hits are hugely popular in Pakistan despite the ban and pirated videos are easily available. The $1 billion Indian entertainment industry is hoping the visit will initiate business in film distribution and boost joint productions between neighbours who share a similar lifestyle and language despite decades of hostility. Indian film-makers are also keen to remake some of Pakistan's Punjabi-language films which they feel would have a huge market in northern India. "The political climate has changed," said an industry expert. "It is not a wise decision to make a film that shows Pakistan in a poor light." - (Reuters) |
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