Visa stories are baseless: Ali Zafar

Mumbai, April 1 (IANS) Pakistani actor-musician Ali Zafar clarifies that he's away from "Chashme Baddoor" promotion in India not due to visa problems but because he is busy shooting E. Niwas' "Aman Ki Asha", a film on India-Pakistan amity.

"This is utterly baseless. I will join my co-stars Siddharth and Divyendu Sharma. I wish I could be there for the whole period of the film's promotion," said Ali, who is likely to be here before the film hits screens Friday.

Directed by David Dhawan, the film is a remake of 1981 light-hearted drama "Chashme Buddoor", also known as buddy film, and Ali plays one of the lead roles in it.

Talking about Niwas' project, he said: "I had committed to shooting E. Niwas' 'Aman Ki Asha' for the month of March during the time when 'Chashme Baddoor' was scheduled to release in February 2013. But then its date changed to April, so I had to fulfil my commitment and let go of a part the CB promotions. Sad, because the film and its promotions is real fun. It was more fun than I had expected it to be."

Working on the remake was an awesome experience for the actor, who debuted in Bollywood with 2010 movie "Tere Bin Laden".

"Bonding with the boys, the fun of working with David Dhawan, discussing Punjabi jokes with the sweet Taapsee Pannu and learning from veterans like Rishi Kapoor and Anupam Kher, not to mention the formula for masala-making from the writers Sajid-Farhad and music-directors Sajid-Wajid - all put together an awesome experience," said the actor.

Ali says he experiences no problems at all in visiting India and being part of Bollywood.

"I love the Mumbai entertainment industry. Everyone has been kind, supportive and very friendly. I haven't encountered any hostility anywhere in India," said the actor who has so far worked in four Hindi films, including "Chasme Baddoor".

Speaking up for Ali, a source from Viacom 18, the producers of "Chashme Buddoor", said that they are "embarrassed" to read that he is not here to promote the film due to visa problems.

"Ali has never had any problems coming to India. He has been with us as much as he can. And he joins us again in a couple of days."

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