Indian filmmaker hopes to promote peace with Pak-India music story

A Pak-India film is in the works, and its message is simple: give peace a chance.

The film will be directed by Harsh Narayan, a long-time advocate of Pak-India friendship, reports Ahmedabad Mirror. Narayan has been an avid supporter of the cross-exchange of musicians in the last 15 years.

In his upcoming film titled Ye Raste Hain Pyar Ke, he tells a story close to his real-life efforts. Two musicians cross borders for a tour of both Pakistan and India and discover themselves in the process.

The rumour mill suggests that Fawad Khan is being roped in the role of one of the musicians, but there is no confirmation of this from the director's side.

Not deterred by the ongoing Pak-India tensions, Narayan believes that this is the perfect time to tell such a story.

“I believe there couldn’t be a better time to put out a film that explores love and peace and promotes humanity,” Narayan says, adding that “Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote the famous poem, Black-Out, while the 1965 Indo-Pak war was underway. His Subh-e-azadi: Dawn of Independence faced protests. From 1947 till his death in 1984, Faiz composed poems in which he spoke lovingly about his land and its long-suffering people, their hopes and fears, joys and sorrows. I'm trying to capture that feeling through my film.”

The film has received support from several prominent personalities, such as Mahesh Bhatt who believes the film’s idea “has immense possibilities and it affirms life in a very elementary way”. Bhatt has joined the film as creative advisor, as has Pakistani writer/artist Salima Hashmi.

Ms Hashmi spoke highly of Narayan's efforts for peace.

“Harsh has played a pivotal role in forging friendships between the Indian and Pakistani youth. For the last decade, students have worked with him and travelled to India in groups to meet young people at different venues, participating in cultural activities including music and theatre to learn from each other and to promote peace. He is continuing his work in the same direction through films.”