LAHORE, Feb 11: Stage performances of some of the leading Indian film stars scheduled for Thursday were cancelled here on Wednesday. Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Sethy and Twinkle Khanna were prominent among a cultural troupe of 94 Indians scheduled to arrive in Lahore on Wednesday.

Media Affairs Manager Hashim Butt of a private club that was organizing the show told Dawnthat the interior ministry withdrew the no-objection certificate (NOC) at the eleventh hour.

"We are shocked. No specific reason has been cited by the ministry. We have suffered a loss of millions of rupees," Mr Butt said. Set aside the monetary loss, he said, it is a matter of credibility.

He said thousands of invitations had been dispatched for the event and people were looking forward to watching the Indian stars' performances. He said his office was receiving hundreds of inquiries about the event.

Besides the performances, the manager said, the film stars were scheduled to attend Basant functions in the city. He said the film stars had made all preparations for the visit and they had to face a lot of problems when they were informed about the latest development.

There were well over a dozen people, mostly youngsters, at the entrance of the club attempting to secure invitations for the event when this reporter had visited the place.