Pooja Bhatt: Collaboration for Mutual Benefit

DISMISSING the notion that Bollywood's foray into Pakistan will ruin the country's movie industry, filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, has said such an association would help in reviving the Pakistan filmworld, besides evolving a pan-South Asian cultural identity.

"Bollywood is not going to hurt the Pakistani film world as widely publicised. Just as our film industry successfully tackles the onslaughts of Hollywood, the Pakistani film industry will also pull up its socks and finally emerge more stronger than it is now," Bhatt, the first Indian director to premiere a film in Pakistan said.

"South Asia shares a common cultural background, which can be enriched through the most popular medium of the region -- films. This will lead to the evolution of a pan-South Asian cultural identity," the actress-turned filmmaker said on the sidelines of the SAARC Business Leaders' Conclave organised by FICCI.

Though there is tremendous interest among Indian movie makers to shoot in Pakistan and vice-versa, the governments of both countries have paid no heedto this popular demand, Bhatt complained.

"The interaction of artists, musicians and writers not only enriches each other's culture, but also helps in facilitating the Indo-Pakistan peace process," Bhatt, whose directorial debut Paap was premiered at Pakistan's Kara film festival in December 2003, said.

"Active co-operation among the film industries of South Asia will throw open before us a big pool of talent that can be tapped to our advantage," she said.

While our technicians can gain immensely by such crossovers, many talented artists, singers and musicians in Pakistan can get better exposure in India, Bhatt said.

She said filmmakers could save much money by filming in numerous unexplored locales in the subcontinent, which can match the most exotic of locations in Europe or the US, instead of spending a fortune by shooting in far off countries.

Shooting within the subcontinent will also promote tourism in the region, as Bollywood films now have a larger audience the world over, said Bhatt, whose latest movie Holiday, will be premiered at the 36th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) next month.●