Panaji: Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt on Wednesday said cinema has helped in bridging the gap between India and Pakistan as people from both sides of the border have realized how pathetically similar their lives are.

"When you tell a story about your part of the world to others, people wake up to the reality of how pathetically similar we all are. And that brings them closer," Bhatt told reporters here.

Bhatt, who was here to address a press conference announcing the fourth edition of South Asian Film Festival slated to begin in Goa next week, said Indian cinema has made inroads into every household of Pakistan.

"They love Indians and Indian cinema... because of our movies and that's a fact," he said.

The filmmaker said Pakistanis cannot look at us as enemies anymore despite several vested interests wanting to convince them that there are demons across the border.

"I think we (filmmakers) have a soft power. Even Indian government is waking up to the power of cinema. The product of art has capacity to bring human beings together," he said.

"Its like a campfire where people sit down and warm themselves as night goes by. And cultural product exactly is like that. Good story teller does that. When you begin to tell a story which concerns the human race, people from all kind and all nations sit down and share their humanity and address the problem," Bhatt said.

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