Lollywood star Meera is to become the first Pakistani to produce a Bollywood film, teaming up with director Karan Johar to make a movie based on her life.

“It is a great breakthrough in my reel life,” a happy and excited Meera told Daily Times on Saturday. She said she had got the confidence to produce an Indian film from having worked with some of the giants of the Pakistani film industry. The project will begin shooting in three months.

Film actress Meera is to star in Adnan Sami’s new music video. The actress told that she had met with Mr Sami on a recent trip to Bombay.

He offered me work in his next video and hopefully I will be working in it,” she said. Part of the video is to be shot in India and the rest abroad. Mr Sami is one of the most popular singers in India.

Meera said she would return to India in a couple of days for shooting of Nazar Kay Samnay, a film written by Mahesh Bhatt and to be directed by Soni Razdan. London-based producer Sev Ali of the Asian Pictures International and Mr Bhatt are the producers of the movie.

Meera’s big break in Indian films?

Meera surprised the Lollywood wallas recently when she flew back from Mumbai disclosing that she is acting in Mahesh Bhatt’s movie, Nazar Ke Saamne. Clad in a flaming red sari, Meera looked radiant (and also quite Indian), as she made a surprise public appearance at a music album launch.

A leading Pakistani actress, who makes her Bollywood debut this week, wants Islamabad to lift a 40-year ban on Hindi language films to give a boost to warming ties between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

Meera, who has starred in more than 30 Urdu language films, told Reuters on Wednesday she could work in Bollywood only because of the improved diplomatic relations between the two countries in the past one year.

Ali Azmat was all set to act in Mahesh Bhatt’s Rog last year, but the Indian government denied him a visa. When asked why, Azmat calmly shrugs and says with a devious smile, ‘‘I don’t know why—there’s no because.’’ Maybe that’s why he doesn’t care much about acting these days. Currently in the city to promote his first solo album, Social Circus, the shiny-headed, irreverent and utterly candid former lead singer of Junoon says he actually quit acting seven years ago. ‘‘I’m not going to wait around for five hours for the female lead to show up.’’

Yousaf Salahuddin’s Haveli oozes cultural magnificence on this cold wintry evening. An unassuming façade, which could easily be missed from the road, opens into a wonderland of history and tradition. Cradled in the glory of the brilliantly lit-up Fort, it basks in the wonders of two worlds: the traditional, which encourages the use of old oil lamps in a power breakdown as opposed to a generator and the modern, which inspires him to build a comfortable living area in his bedroom and bathroom both. His rooftop springs color for Basant and his basement has become the breeding ground for many well-known musicians today. His courtyard is open to public, whether to host a mohallah wedding or shoot a Zille Huma music video. And he’s incomparable as a host, the courtyard becoming an impressive welcome mat to dignitaries from all over the world-Mick Jagger, Madhu Jaffery, Aamir Khan and Boney M included. Yousaf has led many celebrities to stardom, especially musicians and though he as won a bit of inevitable infamy on the way, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Mian Salli embodies the Power of One.

Renowned fashion designer Moazzam Abbasi, a die-hard fan of Parveen Babi pays a tribute to Bollywood’s all time favourite diva.

They blackballed and clapper clawed her. Hissing and hooting. Disparaging and damnatory.. A thousand deaths, that made her die. Helplessly, the more she tried to vivificate, the tighter they shut the grave on her, making her dance on shooting needles, to bury her alive. Mocking her controversial existence, her pravity, her depravity… Frowning faces that spat fire on her morality, smirking at her cloven foot. They kicked her harder when she was almost down, hurting her sensibilities and crushing her being. Her mind was a seesaw, while she yearned for love, they threw her into a winter of discontentment, instead of holding and protecting her. They dug deeper and pulled out a mental horror that she had hidden – PARVEEN BABI they have let you die.

Indian film-maker Pooja Bhatt’s latest venture “Rog” has proved a hit in the ongoing film festival in Pakistan. Besides, other Bollywood films like Maqbool and Dhoop are also attracting much crowds.

Starring Irfan Khan, “Rog” is Pooja’s second film in succession that has been premiered in Pakistan, the first one being “Paap”. Written by her father and director Mahesh Bhatt, “Rog” is a tale of a cop falling in love with a woman whose murder he is investigating.

Pakistan government has provided security to Lollywood actress Meera, even as a petition was filed in a Pakistani court seeking to ban her from acting in Indian films.

Meera, who returned from the sets of Mahesh Bhatt’s film ‘Nazar’ in Mumbai three days ago, was provided security after she took up the issue of threats with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid. She had received threats for allegedly featuring in a kissing scene in the film. Meera lives in Lahore, the home of Pakistan’s fledgling film industry.

With all the negative publicity and flak that Meera has received in Pakistan thanks to her recent performance in Mahesh Bhatt’s Nazar and subsequent interviews to the Indian media, it is not surprising that the actress is now avoiding interviews like the plague. However, hurt and angry as she is, she agreed to give an exclusive to Imagesin which she confirmed that she had been fined by the government for her role in the film. The following are excerpts:

On her role in Nazar