Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who calls himself a facilitator of the cultural dialogue between India and Pakistan, says Bollywood is responsible for reviving the interest in cinema in the neighbouring country, where a play based on his 1989 film Daddy was recently staged.
In a tete-a-tete with IANS, the 66-year-old, who was in the capital to promote his forthcoming production Mr X, said that when the Pakistani film industry "almost non-existent", the popularity of Bollywood films and stars was what had motivated them to revive their own industry.
"Pakistani people have Indian actors figuring in their lives like in India. When you walk on the streets of Karachi, you have advertisements of Priyanka Chopra or Shah Rukh Khan endorsing some product or the other adorning the walls there," Mr Bhatt said.
Indian movies were banned in Pakistan in 1968 and as a result the film industry across the border suffered recession. While the ban was eased in 2006, most theatres in the country couldn't survive the self-imposed drought. In fact, just earlier this year, the 66-year-old Taj Mahal cinema in the country's Abbottabad city was shut down due to lack of clientele.
In India also, there is a heightened interest in Pakistani works ever since movies from the other side of the border have started releasing here. Accessibility to TV content from Pakistan - courtesy Zindagi channel - has also played a role.
All three shows went houseful and "people really gave it a very powerful response", he said.
Mr Bhatt is currently busy promoting his nephew Emraan Hashmi's new 3D sci-fi thriller Mr. X.
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