Apr 24, 2006, 13:34 GMT
New Delhi - Long-time rivals India and Pakistan are due to engage in a round of cultural diplomacy as India's Culture Minister Ambika Soni and Bollywood stars visit Lahore to mark the screening of Indian films in Pakistan for the first time in four decades, news reports said Monday.
Soni, leaves for Pakistan on Monday with a delegation that includes Indian film-makers and actors Hrithik Roshan and Manisha Koirala to attend the premiere of Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story on April 26, the Hindustan Times reported.
Taj Mahal, a period film, tells the story behind the world's most famous monument to love, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his queen Mumtaz Mahal.
It follows the release of another Mughal tale, Mughal-e-Azam (meaning Great Mughal in Urdu) which premiered at the Gulistan cinema in Lahore on Sunday. A love story between Prince Salim and court dancer Anarkali, Mughal-e-Azam, was the first Indian movie to hit Pakistani screens in 41 years, the paper reported.
While pirated DVDs of Bollywood films are available in Pakistan, their public screenings have not been allowed since India and Pakistan went to war in 1965.
The screening of the Indian films was made possible after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, granted special permission after receiving representations to lift the ban.
Pakistani authorities have also allowed other Indian movies like 'Sohni Mahiwal' and 'Bride and Prejudice' to be screened, reports said.
Bollywood films are popular in Pakistan and Indian stars like Roshan and Shahrukh Khan command a huge fan following. At the same time, Pakistani music and TV soaps are all the rage in India.
Though there is no tangible progress in the ongoing peace dialogue between the nuclear-armed neighbours that have thrice gone to war, there is a marked increase in people-to-people contacts.
Several bus and rail links have opened and there is a greater interaction amongst academics, businessmen and artistes since the January 2004 launch of the peace process, which has brought people of the two countries closer.
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