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Jang Group of Pakistan and India’s Times of India are fully geared up to put the tense bilateral relations between the two countries back on track, amid stage set for the Indo-Pak talks at Foreign Secretaries level.

With the same spirit, a ceremony was organized at Bandra Fort of Mumbai on February 8, headlined by Pakistan’s iconic actor Zia Mohayyuddin and the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan.

Bachchan had them stop in their tracks, when his baritone boomed to recite his father, Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala and other immemorable poems. The crowds gathered at the Fort on Monday evening went berserk.

Dressed in a red kurta and black pyjamas with matching black spectacles, the Bollywood legend looked dapper and completely at ease. Before he mesmerised the crowds, wife Jaya came on stage and asked, “How does one introduce one’s husband?” And in her straightforward manner, she continued, “My husband will read his father’s poetry.”

Prior to the Big B’s performance, Pakistan’s icon Zia Mohyeddin wearing a stylishly cut grey English suit read his countryman Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry with flair and elan.
Seated in the crowd, Zia’s begum and Vidya Balan couldn’t stop raving. Their wah-wah filled the amphitheatre, giving the crowds present gooseflesh, as the legends from both sides of the border continued to keep everyone enthralled.

The ceremony was a part of Aman ki Asha initiative undertaken by Pakistan’s Jang Group and Times of India, aimed at spurring the peace and harmony between the two countries.

Bollywood’s back and box office is loving it

A cineplex in Karachi is showing 3 Idiots. It’s running houseful and you have to book tickets days in advance.

Hirani, better known as “the guy who made Munnabhai films.” They also love the man who played Munnabhai — Sanjay Dutt, fondly called “Nargis ka beta”.
Most people in Pakistan love Indian films. No one can deny how Bollywood has brought our cinema halls back to life. Not long ago, they were being shut down to be converted into plazas. But now, their interiors have been revamped, floors polished and doors opened as people have been flocking to watch Wake up Sid, Main Aur Mrs Khanna and Luck By Chance. Even the ‘gay’ comedy Dostana had the women in hijab in splits.

What a blessing it is to have Indian films in our cinemas. We are also grateful to the pirates for bringing Bollywood to our homes (copyrights and legitimacy are good but access trumps over everything else). For blockbusters such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, the DVD sellers would delete a couple of scenes from the movie, so you watched the edited version and bought the disc again when the full version was released. People here could never miss out on the legendary Shah Rukh-Kajol chemistry, at any cost.

For a long time, Indian films were banned here right after the 1965 war, but Pakistan’s love affair with Bollywood continued, thanks to the VCR. We know all the songs that Rajesh Khanna sang with Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz. We saw the rise of Amitabh Bachchan with Dewaar, Coolie and Kabhi Kabhi. We were so fond of all those family dramas Sridevi did with Jaya Prada and Jeetendra. And who can forget the magic created by Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit.

Tags: Aman Ki Asha Amitabh, Amitabh Zia Liven Up, Jung Group Aman Ki Asha, Times Of India Aman Ki Asha