/> Even as producer Shashi Ranjan prepares to shoot in Islambad for his comedy Dhoom Dhadaka, poet-lyricist Gulzar has done what would appear unthinkable a few years ago. He has written all the lyrics for a Pakistani love story called Tere Liye.

This is the first occasion when a Bollywood poet has contributed to an entire Pakistani score.

Anu Malik has been roped into do the tunes for Gulzar's lyrics in this post-glasnost breaking-of-the-ice soundtrack bringing the two countries together.

However there's a catch. All the recordings will be done only in Mumbai, thereby dodging the Great Visa Problem which arises every time Indian artistes desire to go across the border.

Says Anu, "I got the offer to do the songs through Gulzar Uncle. He's the main reason why I'm doing the project. Our collboration in Aks and Filhaal has been fantastic.

As for the Pakistani presence, I'm happy that the gates are finally opening at the border. How does it matter whether the love story is Indian or Pakistani? Love is the same everywhere."

However not everyone shares Anu's optimism about improving cultural relations between the two countries. Last year Javed Akhtar was denied a visa to attend the premiere of K Asif's revived coloured version of Mughal-e-Azam in Pakistan.

Recalls Javed, "My visa was suddenly cancelled, just two days after me and the other delegates were given visas. I was dumbstruck. No reason was provided. Later they decided to reissue my visa. But it was too late. By then the late K Asif's son had decided to call off the trip. What a pity!"

Adds a prominent musician from Bollywood, "We welcome all their singers with open arms. But to this day our Bharat Ratna Lataji hasn't been able to visit Pakistan. We aren't being hospitable, just dumb."

However filmmakers like Shashi Ranjan and Mahesh Bhatt are all for Pakistani presence in Bollywood. A part of Bhatt's last production Awarapan was shot in Rawalpindi. Bhatt has repeatedly used Indian musicians and actors in his cinema. Shashi Ranjan's comedy will be shot in Islamabad.

"Not just that, my film has a Pakistani co-producer Syma Khar who's the sister-in-law of Temina Durrani who wrote My Feudal Landlord. We need to stop taking a myopic view of cultural relations between the two countries. 'They did this to us, so we should do this to them.' We should be looking at enchancing cultural ties between the two countries,"adds Shashi.