Momi beats Shaan to Bollywood

After Pooja Bhatt's Paap, India-Pakistan talent is coming together again on a Bollywood platform

While all the Reemas and Meeras have been boasting about getting regular film offers from across the border and with Shaan still contemplating the idea of whether to take a jump or not, Mommar Rana has quietly signed a Bollywood film. The film called Dobara has director Shashi Ranjan calling the shots. Momi has a guest appearance in the film.

Dobara stars Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon and Mahima Chaudhary in the lead.

Dobara, says Shashi, is a mature love story, which deals with the relationship between couples in their 30s. Jackie Shroff plays a successful TV writer and Mahima Chaudhary plays his wife while Raveena Tandon is his ex-girlfriend. Momi who has replaced Sanjay Dutt in the film, essays the role of a successful business tycoon.

Shashi met Momi during the Indo-Pak cricket matches in Pakistan. The director bounced the idea to the Pakistani actor as soon as he was sure that Momi could be the guy who could fit the role after Sunjay walked out because of date hassles. Shashi reveals, "At first, Moamar was undecided. He sounded excited, he was anxious, he was scared as well." It took an apprehensive Momi sometime before he gave the green signal to Shashi.

The Akshay Kumar of Pakistan, (yes, this is what Momi is called in India, in case you didn't know) has made a smart move, though some believe that he has sold himself too cheap. While he could have bagged a big role, it is better to check out what the Indian industry could offer him and how this move of his shall be received back home. Most of the Pakistanis have unfortunately got a raw deal from Indians and our guy sure believes in "look before you leap" adage.

We are waiting to see how archrival Shaan reacts to Momi's new move. With Lollywood's lead sullen man with the brooding good looks, mulling over offers from Bollywood, one can say with certainty that the Shaan-Momi competition has shifted base from Lahore to Mumbai. Any Jugga or Gujjar interested in cashing in on it?

--Zeenia Shaukat