Mahesh, Pooja Bhatt arrive in city

Karachi
Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter and film actor Pooja Bhatt arrived in Karachi on Monday to participate in the International Theatre Festival being held at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).
Speaking to the media at the airport, Pooja said she had arrived in Pakistan for shopping, not acting. “I have come to shop on Tariq Road because shopping there is so much fun,” she said.
A day before her arrival, she said in a tweet: “Art,cinema & music has no borders. Artistes cannot & will not be reined by political dictates & industries that benefit from war mongering.”
Mahesh Bhatt’s play ‘Daddy’ is also being staged at Napa. The play is based on his 1989 film of the same name.
The two other Indian plays to be staged at the international event are ‘Kasomal Sapno’ and Indo-Pak collaborative project ‘Tum Kaun’.
Speaking on stage at Napa, Mahesh and his daughter spoke to a hall filled to capacity about the play. They said they were happy to be able to bring their play to Pakistan.
Their visit, which will last for three days, has however not happened without hiccups. Earlier this month, Indian troupes were denied visas to attend the event, prompting Mahesh Bhatt to announce that he would not take his play Daddy to Pakistan unless the rest of the troupes got visas.
“All is well that ends well. It is a happy ending for us as the Pakistan Embassy has given an NOC to all the Indian plays which were to travel to Karachi for the theatre festival. I thank them from the bottom of my heart,” Bhatt had told Press Trust of India.
He had said the unfortunate situation was because of a misunderstanding, which had been removed now.
Bhatt, who is a strong advocate of people-to-people contact and peace between Pakistan and India, had met the Pakistani deputy high commissioner and said there was some kind of miscommunication.
“The visa papers had not landed at the place where they were supposed to and there was some sort of a slip-up. He [the deputy high commissioner] assured me that there was no intention to jeopardise the cultural event.”