Bollywood swaps war screenplay for peace

MUMBAI: With relations between India and Pakistan improving by the day, Bollywood is either dropping films with anti-Pak themes or tempering their scripts.
"Pak-bashing has run its course," announces film-maker Tanuja Chandra, who is set to direct a film on the 1971 Bangladesh war.
Always on the lookout for what trade analyst Taran Adarsh calls the "winning formula", producers are busy working cross-border camaraderie into their scripts.
Nitin Manmohan''s Vande Mataram on the 1971 war has been shelved and Sarhad Paar, a war film starring Sanjay Dutt, is being adapted to the peace mood, even though the film was largely in the can.
Its director Raman Kumar says he is toying with the idea of including a Pakistani actor or a song by Pakistani band Josh, as a goodwill gesture.
More significantly, director Anil Sharma, whose last two films—Gadar-Ek Prem Katha and The Hero—unabashedly rode the jingoistic wave, seems to have amended the tone of his latest film, Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon.
The war saga ran into trouble when Akshay Kumar said he wanted out because of the anti-Pak theme.
Director Farhan Akhtar wants to avoid patriotic stereotypes in his new project Lakshya. He clarifies that though his main reason for making the film was to glorify the Indian army, he does not want it to be overtly jingoistic.
''King of Romance'' Yash Chopra''s latest venture featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta carries forward the ''love thy neighbour'' refrain.
"Pakistan is a fantastic new territory for India," says Chopra, who is considering distribution and even co-production deals with Pakistan for future projects.
Therein lies the reason for the change in mood. As Sarhad Paar producer Akash Khurana admits candidly, commerce rather than political goodwill lies behind the change of gear.
Amit Khanna, president of the Film Producers Guild of India, says that the guild, encouraged by the positive response from Pakistani producers and artistes, is trying to promote trade between the two film industries.
Although Pakistan is still not open to importing Indian films, Khanna is optimistic markets will open, to Bollywood''s benefit.
Topline Bollywood producers could be richer by five crore rupees per film if their movies are shown across the border, estimates trade analyst Komal Nahta.