While Mahesh Bhatt plans to cast Pakistani actress Meera in his supernatural thriller "Nazar", Kamal Haasan wants to make a love story spanning the two countries with a Pakistani actress in the lead.

The two sides seem to be coming closer than ever before through cinema.

Amidst reports that Islamabad might lift the nearly 40-year-old ban on Indian films, more and more actors from Pakistan are making their presence felt across the border.

In director Shashi Ranjan's "Dobara", which opens next month, Pakistani heartthrob Muammar Rana makes a pivotal guest appearance. The role was earlier earmarked for Sanjay Dutt.

Ranjan, who has often accompanied his good friend Shatrughan Sinha to Pakistan on goodwill missions, saw the signing of Rana as a step towards improving relations between the two countries.

When Rana flew to Mumbai to shoot with Mahima Chowdhary and singer Alisha Chinai, he was given the red carpet treatment by the press.

Now it's the turn of another Pakistani actor, Jawed Sheikh, to join the Bollywood pack.

In Anubhav Sinha's multi-starrer "Dus", Shiekh plays a Pakistani officer who joins hands with his Indian counterparts to combat terrorism.

Why Sheikh? "Why not?" shoots back Sinha from Calgary in Canada, where Jawed has joined the Bollywood cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Shilpa Shetty, Esha Deol, Suniel Shetty and Zayed Khan.

"Isn't it about time we stopped looking anxiously over our shoulder at our neighbours? I was very impressed by Jawed's acting in some Pakistani teleplays.

"When I saw him in a hotel lobby in Mumbai, I was immediately struck by his matinee idol looks and offered him the role of the Pakistani officer. Jawed accepted. I see no harm in it. In fact, only good can come out of it.

"Some people complain about how we're not as welcome in Pakistan. But they hardly have a film industry! What would our stars do there? They've given gifted musicians like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Adnan Sami to Hindi cinema. I'm sure actors like Jawed Sheikh will give Bollywood filmmakers more options to choose."