From across the border...

A new(?) trend seems to be raising its head in Bollywood. Actors/Actresses from Pakistan have now started to feature prominently in Bollywood movies.

Moammar Rana and Mahima in Dobaraa (Image credit: indiafm.com) 
I wouldn't say that this is a new trend. I mean we have had actors such as the fantastic Dilip Kumar (aka Yusuf Khan) was born in 1922 in Peshawar, or present-day Pakistan. However, his ending up in Bollywood is not quite the same thing.
I believe the trend of movie performances from Pakistan began mainly with the ghazal singing of Ghulam Ali with Lata Mangeshkar. However, there was no real impact of this until the immensely popular 'Afreen Afreen' sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The popularity of this song made Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan also quite well-known in India, and he went to sing and make music for movies such as Aishwarya's debut film in Hindi 'Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya'.
And of course there is the inimitable Adnan Sami who was born on 15th August (!!) and is a Pakistani native, although he was brought up in the UK and probably lives in Canada now.

Meera (*ing in Nazar) (Image credit: Mahiram) 
Anyway, recently we have had an actor and an actress feature in mainstream Bollywood movies, Moammar Rana in 'Dobara' and now Meera in 'Nazar'. I do believe that this is a desirable trend and we would like more of these cultural exchanges. There are people who argue that Bollywood moviestars will never work in Pakistan and so we must not accept their stars - but thats just foolish. Bollywood is the biggest movie industry in the world (most movies per year) and who would want to leave that to work in a smaller industry. Of course there is more visibility for someone to star in a Bollywood movie, than in a Pakistani movie....

sultry Meera in Nazar 

Of course, if we talk about television serials, then Pakistani television serials are miles miles ahead of the moronic 'Kyunki...' stuff that viewers in India are subjected to. As an example, I offer the tele-serial Tanhaiyaan.....