Urmila in lahore for Documentry

LAHORE: Moving Closer, a 40-minute documentary by Serendip Productions, was screened at Alhamra Hall-III on Sunday evening.




The documentary will also be shown in Bombay and Delhi and later screened on Pakistan Televison, Star Plus and Doordarshan.




Moving Closer is about Indian actress Urmila Matondkar and director Prahlad Kakar’s visit to Lahore earlier this year. The two joined Pakistani actors Resham and Shamyl Khan and video director Saqib Malik to make a music video for the Fuzon song Deewanay.




Serendip filmed the five-day video shoot to make the documentary, capturing the emotions of the creative cross-border crew and cast. They meet at Wagah for the first time and say farewell at the same place five days later as old friends. The documentary shows how ties between Pakistan and India could improve if travel across the border was easy.




Dr Huma Baig of Serendip, a producer of the film, said the project was “a vehicle for change, a mirror to a people separated by borders, neighbours relishing the familiarity of one another’s company while respecting one another’s solidarity, professionals and civilians working towards and yearning for a peaceful future”.




Dr Farooq Baig of Serendip said the film was not just significant for the subcontinent. “The powerful idealism shared and the realities tackled by Pakistanis and Indians in Moving Closer are those facing many nationalities in other regions of the world. On a human level this documentary offers universal inspiration to any nation looking to re-establish peace with its neighbours.”




The United Nations Development Programme funded Moving Closer. Also at the launch were Fuzon minus Shafqat Amanat, Resham, Shamyl Khan, Saqib and Sania.




Serendip Productions is an Islamabad-based company that has received international accolades for its documentaries and television programmes. Serendip is also responsible for the sound and light dramas on Sher Shah Suri and Noor Jahan performed at the Rohtas Fort and Lahore Fort.