Two films featuring Adil Hussain were picked for screening at the Shanghai International Film Festival amid the Indo-China border tension, and the actor says the territorial conflict between the two countries should be looked at separately from cultural exchange, because the role of art is to unite and not divide.

"Raahgir: The Wayfarers" and "Pareeksha: The Final Test" were considered for the prestigious festival in China this year.

"Conflict at the border is a very territorial issue but art is universal. I think art should always cross boundaries, build bridges and not burn them. Eventually, art helps to bring countries, societies together," Adil told IANS.

He added: "We should rather encourage the art collaboration between countries, even if there is a conflict between them. Art must be practiced to restore connection between people. None of us wants to stay in conflict, unless you have made a business out of conflict. There are certain warmongering countries who practice that, because for them war is business and an industry. So, they want to continue with war. Our job as practitioners of art is to bring harmony between people."

The film "Pareeksha: The Final Test" is directed by Prakash Jha, and also features Priyanka Bose, Sanjay Suri, Shubham Jha in pivotal role. The film is slated to release on the OTT platform Zee5 on August 6.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)