Forget the behind-the-scenes drama, the Zee Cine Awards in Dubai last weekend truly rocked. More than anything else, it made a genuine effort to cement the Indo-Pak relations further, which have been on an upswing in the recent times. Simply put, Bollywood and Lollywood were akin to the ambassadors of peace that night.

Hosting a majestic show not in India, not in Pakistan, but in a third country (Dubai, U.A.E.) and assembling the biggies of Bollywood (Big B, Dharmendra, SRK, the Roshans, Preity Zinta, Urmila, Sushmita Sen, Saif Ali Khan, Randhir and Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapur, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi) and Lollywood (Reema, Resham, Jawed Sheikh, Umar Sharif) was an effort in the right direction and the management of Zee deserves bouquets for it.

Producer: Vinesh Gandhi
Director, Story, Scripy: Honey Irani
Music: Shankar Ehsan Loy
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Starring: Amitabh Bachan, Anil Kapoor, Pretty Zinta, Gracey Singh, Anupam Kher & Randheer Kapoor

Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachan have never worked together in a movie before though it has been tried several times but never accomplished because of whatsoever reasons. The writer turn director Honey Irani (director) has very strong terms and relations with these two mega stars and both of them trust Honey Irani so much that they agreed to work in this movie without reading the script!

Hoooo… Channo ki aankh mein ik nasha hai. I thought I heard someone sing…dang, you hear it too, don’t you?

Resonating throughout Pakistan, USA, UK, and all around the world for that matter, the sudden Channo-mania has caused quite a hullabaloo, uproar, and frenzy. The man behind the mania, whose voice is often compared to Kishore Kumar’s, is none other than, painter/model/singer, Monsieur Ali Zafar.

We had a chance to meet up with Ali Zafar, who was in Karachi for a couple of days. Sammy kept singing, Ke huqqa paani…

“Arg! It’s stuck in my head!” Sammy hollered.

In the first and largest event of its type, Indian and Pakistani film stars and artistes performed together in a six-hour concert to raise funds for tsunami survivors.

Called “Help!”, the concert held in Bombay, was broadcast on several news and entertainment television channels, including Geo TV. Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan, superstars Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai made appeals for donations.

Pakistan’s film industry has offered to take part in an entertainment extravaganza conducted by Bollywood to raise money for the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to help tsunami victims.

The offer was made to Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt, who recently completed the film Nazar, an Indo-Pak venture with Pakistani star Meera playing the female lead.

The actress called him to tell him that she, along with other actors and singers of Pakistan, wanted to take part in the programme scheduled for February 6 in Mumbai, Bhatt said.

The Indian press has crowned her the Aishwarya Rai of Pakistan - after Bollywood’s most successful female star.

A household name in Pakistan after having acted in nearly 200 films, Reema is visiting the western Indian city of Bombay - home to India’s famously prolific film industry. At parties thrown in her honour by Indian film legends, Reema says she brings a message of peace from across the border.

“People in both countries want peace,and I bring this message with me to further better relations between the two countries.”

It is a hope echoed by those she has met in Bombay (Mumbai).

The Indian press has crowned her the Aishwarya Rai of Pakistan - after Bollywood’s most successful female star.

A household name in Pakistan after having acted in nearly 200 films, Reema is visiting the western Indian city of Bombay - home to India’s famously prolific film industry. At parties thrown in her honour by Indian film legends, Reema says she brings a message of peace from across the border.

“People in both countries want peace,and I bring this message with me to further better relations between the two countries.”

It is a hope echoed by those she has met in Bombay (Mumbai).