Art must go on: Bollywood descends on Pakistan Film Festival

The recently concluded Pakistan International Film Festival saw several Indian stars in attendance. The film festival had Pakistan's popular faces hobnobing with Indian film personalities like SS Rajamouli, Nandita Das, Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj and Vinay Pathak.

From film screenings and interactive sessions on cinema in the subcontinent, Pakistani and Indian film celebrities came together for the five day event.

Ali Zafar, Sanam Saeed and other celebrities shared photos from the event.

SS Rajamouli screened his mega film Baahubali at the festival while Vishal Bhardwaj was a part of multiple panel discussions that took place as part of the festival.

"I love Pakistan. Whenever I come here, I find a reason to come back again. I didn`t find any changes. The only change I found is that the love for us has increased," Bhardwaj, a National Award winning multi-talented talent, told The News International.

On cultural exchanges between the two countries and how they can bring them closer, he said: "I think this is the only way to bring normalcy between the two countries more and more cultural events can bridge the gap. And it`s very sad that we are always at loggerheads.

"We all are alike. If we come together, we`ll be such a great force in the world in terms of everything - culturally, economically as well as politically."

Bilateral tensions had intensified between India and Pakistan after the September 18, 2016 Uri attack that left 19 Indian soldiers dead and the September 28 surgical strikes by India on Pakistan terror camps the same year.

The political rift has affected cultural ties too as Pakistani artistes are not getting a chance to work in India anymore.