MUMBAI, May 30: Top Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt plans to rope in Indian and Pakistani stars for a film to be shot partly in Pakistan depicting the events that led to partition in 1947.

Mr Bhatt has initiated talks with the Pakistan government after he got a positive response to the idea from a delegation of Pakistani MPs that visited India earlier this month.

“I spoke to them (the MPs) about the project and they were excited and positive about it. They asked me to put the proposal in writing and I have done that,” Bhatt said.

The film, to be called “Partition”, will include a cast of stars from both countries, he said.

Veteran actor-producer-director Dev Anand had planned a project to be filmed in Pakistan a few years ago, but it did not happen.

Anand was part of Vajpayee’s delegation in Feb 1999.

“I visited my old college and spoke to the then Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif. He invited me to make a film in Pakistan. I was very excited as it would be a dream come true,” said Dev Anand.

“But history took a strange turn and it was not to happen as Sharif was soon exiled,” he added.—AFP