‘Ramchand Pakistani’, which hopes to bring the two nations closer by showcasing the emotional turmoil that ordinary people on both sides of the border experience because of the strained political relations, has an apt tagline — ‘Two nations Poised for War. One Family Torn Apart’.

The film will be screened along with 79 other films from 41 countries at the festival, which began today and will be on till May 4. The film is likely to be released in India and Pakistan soon.

The movie by first-time Pakistani feature filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar stars Nandita Das as the woman whose husband and son are jailed for being "spies". Das plays Champa, the woman whose seven-year-old son Ramchand and husband disappear from their village near Nagarparkar, located along the border with India.

The film revolves around Ramchand, who grows up in an Indian prison with his father, but with no memory of his mother.

"The story is deeply rooted in the complex relationships that characterise interactions between Pakistan and India, and Muslims and Hindus," Jabbar said.

"Ramchand Pakistani" was recently awarded the Global Film Initiative Grant, an initiative to support films that promote "cross-cultural understanding".

Apart from featuring an Indian actor in a key role, Jabbar's film has other collaborations between Indian and Pakistani artistes. The music was scored by Indian composer Debojyoti Mishra and the songs were sung by India's Shubha Mudgal and Pakistan's Shafqat Amanat Ali.

Jabbar loved the music of Rituparno Ghosh's "Raincoat", especially the song "Mathura Nagarpati Kahe Tum" by Mudgal, and got the same team for her film.

"I think Mishra did a wonderful job with my film because he understood the tone of the film. We recorded the vocals of the two songs at a Karachi studio," she said.

Since Jabbar wanted global sounds, Mishra used instruments like the bouzouki, saaz, udh, cello and viola.

Written and produced by Mehreen's father Javed Jabbar, the film stars Syed Fazal Hussain in the title role. Pakistani actors in the cast include Rashid Farooqi, Noman Ijaz, Maria Wasti, Shahood Alvi, Tipu, Adarsh Ayaz and Saleem Mairaj.

The film, shot in Nagarparkar and Islamkot, close to the Indian border, is being released in Urdu and Hindi. For international audiences, it will have subtitles in English and other languages.