Akshay Kumar, the biggest Bollywood star threatened to walk out of a film because of its anti-Pakistan dialogue. “The Fatherland is Safe,” is the latest in a series of war and terrorism films in which the enemy is always Pakistan. Indian commercial filmmakers have been churning them out for the last several years.

Anil Sharma, the director, promised to rid the film of the rabidly anti-Pakistani dialogue. "I won't mouth a single line against Pakistan," an uncharacteristically aggressive Akshay said in Toronto [most contemporary Indian films have scenes shot outside India, usually dream sequences in exotic north America].

"I told Sharma to clean out the anti-Pakistani dialogues or else I'd quit."

Reacting to Sharma's claims that Akshay never had any problems with another India-Pakistan war film that's currently shooting, with Amitabh Bachchan and Bobby Deol in the lead, Akshay laughs good-naturedly at the filmmaker's obvious bluff. "No, that isn't true. I did have a problem with that script's rabid dialogues. I winced when I read some of the strong words used for our neighbours. I volunteered to leave the film, and in fact did so.”

"But Anil, who's a friend, promised to clean out objectionable dialogues from his film. Only then did I agree to be in it. I think next time I'll ask for a clause in the contract stating I won't make abusive remarks about Pakistan," said Akshay. "Terrorists must not be equated with civilians. Let us all condemn terrorism. But please, let's not look at all Pakistanis with hostility suspicious and hatred."

"We in Bollywood have so many fans from across the border. We cannot disregard their feelings just for a few cheap thrills on screen. I don't think being a patriotic Indian means we should abuse another nation," said Akshay.

"At a time when we're trying to build bridges between the two countries, when bus service has been resumed between the two countries and Noor's heart (a Pakistani child) has been operated on by Indian doctors, why can't we speak a language of love in our movies?"

Akshay is quite sure he doesn't want to be part of the "Gadar" kind of cinema. Gadar was a film "that may have suited the Indian audiences' mood two years ago. Today, I don't think any right-minded Indian would applaud the language of violence, no matter who it's directed at."

Akshay returns to Mumbai this week with good news for the long-delayed project, “My Lifelong Love.” This film brings him together with Karisma Kapoor. The film got stuck for a year because the producer had financial problems. "Now we're shooting and completing the film this year. I've done about a dozen films with Karisma, many of them hits. My acting assignments in films will keep me occupied for a large part of this year and the next. Apart from ‘My Lifelong Love,’ Suneel Darshan is launching a new film with me in the lead. Also on the cards is a Dharamesh Darshan film.”