Mumbai: Appealing to open a new chapter in the Indo-Pak film ties by concentrating on films reflecting the peace initiative, prominent members of the Pakistan and Indian film industry have issued a clarion call for a ceasefire on films made on the old India-Pakistan rivalry theme.

"Films in both countries have played a major role in fuelling a sense of hatred between both nations. There are several Indian films that have made hard-hitting anti-Pakistan films. I have often been deeply pained when I have watched these films with my family," says Amjad Farzand Ali, chairman of Pakistan Film Producers' Association, who is in Mumbai to attend a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) programme for the film industry.

"There should be a mutual understanding that we now concentrate on films that reflect the initiative," he said.

According to P D Mehra, a member of the Indian film industry, "A vast section of the film-going audience currently are those who were born post-partition and most of them have not witnessed the post-partition riots nor have they gone through the angst of the partition. However, by screening films that etch out in detail of the havoc wrecked during partition, we tend in to fill the empty minds with images of hatred and sow an indirect hatred," he said.

"We should now forget the past and stop showing films that talk about those bitter feelings. We should rather concentrate on those that talk about our positive ventures," Mehra said, adding that films in a major added to existing prejudices or created new ones, creating a smokescreen over the true images of both countries.