Indian film stars for Basant fest in Lahore

Reflecting the spirit of the current thaw in Indo-Pak relations, a 70-member team of Indian film artistes, led by Akshay Kumar and Shilpa Shetty, would perform in the Pakistani city of Lahore coinciding with the 15-day Basant festival being celebrated there from next week.

Considered as the largest show involving Indian artistes in Pakistan in recent times, the Bollywood stars will arrive at the Royal Palm Golf Club in Lahore to perform at the Concord-2002-India-Pak show on February 12, the club's Director Pervez Qureshi said.

Also known as festival of kites, the Lahore Basant, or spring  festival is considered Pakistan's largest tourist fest attracting crowds from within the country, India and across the world.

Others who will perform include Jatin-Lalit, Shaan and Suniti Chouhan, he said adding that it would be an exclusive show by the Indian stars and the tickets were priced as high as Rs 8,000.

A Delhi-Lahore Golf tournament is on the cards with 20 Indian golfers expected to take part, Qureshi said.

Several Indian film celebrities including Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt and Urmilla Matondkar recently visited Pakistan following the improvement in bilateral relations. At present, film actress and human rights activist Nandita Das is on a visit to Lahore and Karachi.

Also, top ghazal singer Jagjit Singh is scheduled to perform at a special show in Karachi.

More reports from Pakistan