Pakistan trip with Gulzar wasn't cut short for political reasons

Director Vishal Bhardwaj has said that his trip to Pakistan with lyricist-driector Gulzar was not truncated for political reasons. The Indian High Commission has also clarified that it had no role to play in the artistes' premature return to Mumbai. The duo had travelled to Pakistan with Mr Bhardwaj's wife, singer Rekha Bhardwaj. They were scheduled to attend the Karachi Literary Festival which starts on Friday; Gulzar was listed as the keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the three-day event. Mr Bhardwaj's press release said that the trip to Pakistan was made to record a song for his new film, 'Dedh Ishqia'. "Gulzar Saab visited the grave of his mentor, an eminent poet Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi," Mr Bhardwaj said. "After that he visited his birth place Dina in Pakistan after 70 years. He was emotionally overwhelmed and stressed and felt uncomfortable after reaching at his hotel in Lahore. So we cancelled his recording and decide to escort him back to India and discontinued his journey further. There is nothing political about it. We plan to visit Pakistan again for recording as soon as Gulzar Saab feels better." The Indian High Commission, in Islamabad said Gulzar's trip was a private one and that it " was not aware of his itinerary and no one from the mission gave him any advice regarding his return to India... the news that he has been advised to return to the India by the Indian High Commission, Islamabad is false and fabricated."