A leading Pakistani actress said on Wednesday her family had received threat calls from unidentified Islamic groups for a kissing scene in a still-to-be released Bollywood film.

Meera was the first Pakistani actress to star in an Indian film as the two nuclear-armed countries took steps to improve relations last year after decades of tension which led them to three wars.

"My family back in Lahore is getting threat calls. These religious groups are not so much concerned about Islam and vulgarity, but they want to stop Pakistanis working in Indian movies," she told Reuters in Mumbai.

"They have told my family that I should not return to Pakistan."

The actress plays the central role in the Hindi language thriller Nazar ("Glance") about a blind woman who after an eye transplant acquires the bizarre ability to see murders in a red light area before they are committed.

The movie, slated for release on May 15, is directed by noted Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt, an advocate of greater cultural exchange between the film industries of the neighbouring countries.

Meera said there was nothing vulgar in her first Hindi movie.

"How can someone say the film is vulgar when nobody has seen it? Some people jealous of me working in Indian films are behind this," she said.

The makers and cast of the film had held a promotional tour to Pakistan and media in India and Pakistan have widely reported the kissing scene involving the actress.

Bhatt said the film had some intimate scenes, including a kissing scene between Meera and her co-star Ashmit Patel.

"There is nothing in the film that should provoke such an outrage," he said.

Lahore's "Lollywood" and Mumbai's "Bollywood" dish out similar fare with song-and-dance scenes and cliched plots, but Hindi films are hugely popular in Pakistan.

Meera said she would not give into the demands of people threatening her family and planned to work in more Hindi films.

"I will not return to Pakistan unless the government gives me adequate protection. If they don't, I will go either to London or Dubai," she said.

Meera said the threats could be a ploy to stop an exodus of Pakistani film actors to Bollywood on the back of warming ties between the two countries.