Pakistani supermodel Mehreen Syed, who was supposed to make her Bollywood debut with Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan's untitled film, is out of the project. The director says it was tough to cope with the stress of working with an artist from across the border.

Chauhan said: "It's unfortunate, but true. I am not working with Mehreen Syed any more in my film. Circumstances are such that we cannot really cope with the stress of having an actress from across the border in our project."

Chauhan, who earlier directed "Lahore", admits there was trouble when he shot with another Pakistani actor.

"I had a traumatic time handling various political parties when I shot with Pakistani actor Rasheed Naz. I really don't want to go through that again. Also, Mehreen recently got married. So she's quite taken up with her new life," he said.


There is no question of signing another Pakistani actress to play the Lahorian character in Chauhan's film.

"I have to shoot with the actress in Gujarat," said the director pointing to restrictions on Pakistani nationals in the region.

Now, Chauhan is on the look-out for another girl to replace Mehreen.