The New Nation - Internet Edition

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee carried a special gift for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during his recent visit to Pakistan a box full of movies of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai.

Gilani, 55, who lists Aishwarya and Shahrukh Khan as his favourite film stars, said it was a "pleasant surprise" when he unwrapped the box presented to him by Mukherjee and found it was full of DVDs of movies starring the Indian actress.

The Prime Minister said Mukherjee`s aides might have found out about his favourite heroine from his book "Chah-e-Yousuf Say Sada", in which he wrote about watching Aishwarya`s movies on his laptop while he was imprisoned during 2001-06 by the Pervez Musharraf regime. Mukherjee visited Islamabad during May 20-21 to resume the composite dialogue process with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The Indian Minister also met Gilani and President Pervez Musharraf. During an appearance on a morning show on the ARY Oneworld TV news channel, Gilani also said he was not opposed to the screening of Indian films in Pakistani cinema halls.

Gilani discussed his taste in clothes and movies and said good music always helped lift his mood He said he liked to listen to the songs of Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Nayyara Noor, a Pakistani ghazal singer who was born in Assam.

Gilani said he could comfortably wear all types of clothes, including sherwanis, salwar kameezes and safari suits, though he was more at ease in the national dress. He added that he liked to wear black.

-Zeenews