<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="/articleshow/357118.cm" target="_blank"><img src="/photo/357419.cms" alt="/photo/357419.cms" border="0" /></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-style:="" italic="">Paap</span><span style="" font-size:=""> which premieres in Karachi, has songs by Pakistani musicians: Junoon and Rahat Ali Khan</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: It''s the season for reconciliation and goodwill-hunting.
After opening their skies and resuming talks on starting the Samjhauta Express, it''s now the turn of their film industries.<br /><br />Last Friday, <a href="/articleshow/354440.cms" target="_blank">Urmila Matondkar</a> created a mini stampede in Lahore while shooting for the documentary Moving Closer. Pakistani daily Dawn reported her visit: "The last time such a large number of photographers and reporters had assembled was at the Musharraf-Vajpayee summit in Agra in 2000... the local press swooned at Urmila''s feet when India''s silver screen goddess entered the conference hall."<br /><br />On Sunday, Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt are leaving for Karachi to attend the Karachi Film Festival and meet President Musharraf. On December 20, they are organising the world premiere of their latest flick, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Paap</span>, at the on-going Karachi Film Festival.<br /><br />Says filmmaker Hamid Zaidi, an organiser of the Karafilm Festival, "Last year, Jagmohan Mundra''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bawander</span> was premiered here, but it''s for the first time that a mainstream Indian film is having its global premiere in Pakistan."<br /><br />Mahesh Bhatt is very excited about the event, "In Pakistan, the frenzy and enthusiasm for Hindi films far exceeds that of India. For me, premiering <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Paap</span> in Karachi is just like premiering it in Mumbai. It''s the best way to build bridges.<br /><br />"In fact, India is the flavour at the festival this year. Bhatt''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Zakhm</span>, the Dimple Kapadia-starer <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Leela</span>, and the Nagesh Kukunoor-directed <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Teen Deewarein</span> are the other mainstream Indian films to be showcased. <br /></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: 0"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="71.9%"> <colgroup> <col width="49.1%" /> <col width="50.4%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">PEOPLE WHO READ THIS STORY ALSO READ...</span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/357420.cms" alt="/photo/357420.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357082.cms" target="_blank">Beyond boundaries: A dream team</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/357420.cms" alt="/photo/357420.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/356584.cms" target="_blank">Porn fuels Kenya''s Internet boom</a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49.1%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/357420.cms" alt="/photo/357420.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357055.cms" target="_blank">Dhando is not bad for global Gujarati</a></div> </td> <td width="50.4%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" e3f1ff=""> <div class="Normal"><#img src="/photo/357420.cms" alt="/photo/357420.cms" border="0" /><span style="" font-size:=""> </span><a href="/articleshow/357044.cms" target="_blank">My desires are endless: Shah Rukh</a></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Also on anvil are 22 Indian documentaries, including <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Speaking Hand</span> (a documentary on the rhythms of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain), and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Godhra Tak</span> — a terror trail.<br /><br />The 10-day fest will also have retrospective of Anand Patwardhan''s documentaries, including <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Ram Ke Naam,</span> based on Ayodhya, and the controversial War and Peace — a critically acclaimed film that took three years to make.<br /><br />Given the huge response to Indian films, filmmakers on both sides feel it is time for the governments to change their policy and allow free exchange. <br /><br />"If the Pakistan government is not aware that Indian films are loved there then it needs a new pair of spectacles," says Naseeruddin Shah, who couldn''t make it for the fest because his visa came too late. "I''m disappointed since this would have been my first visit to the country."<br /><br />Bhatt sums it up: "The young filmmakers of Pakistan want the ban against Indian movies removed. They feel it has done more harm since it has isolated their industry. 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