The Hindu Business Line : India is the new flavour for Western media

"With more than one billion people and a middle class larger than the population of the United States, India is a market no global company can ignore," Ms Herera reported, also signalling the reason why no American business publication can afford to ignore India, either.

Mumbai , Nov. 10

THE `India Shining' campaign may have run into rough weather, but for the Western media, India is certainly shining bright. From MSNBC to Time Asia to ESPN magazine, India is the big story these days. Reporters have been flying in with amazing regularity in the last couple of months to report on everything from our growing appetite for wine, to Bollywood's new icons to our sporting heroes.

MSNBC's Sue Herera, who was in India last month, wrote about a dozen business stories, ranging from a profile of Ratan Tata to the growing market for luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton and the challenges that lie ahead. "With more than one billion people and a middle class larger than the population of the United States, India is a market no global company can ignore," Ms Herera reported, also signalling the reason why no American business publication can afford to ignore India, either. "For American CEOs trying to grow their companies, the issue is whether they embrace globalisation: if they do, they must have a presence in India. And businesses that are not here yet are late." Not quite as dire is Time Asia's special on the subject that unfailingly catches everyone's fancy: Bollywood. With Aishwarya Rai on the cover, the issue, which is titled `Bollyboom,' describes Ms Rai as leading the charge as "hipper, edgier, more professional Bollywood bids for global dominance." The issue includes gushing interviews by reporter Alex Perry with Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rahul Bose and director Ram Gopal Varma. Year 2004 will be Bollywood's breakthrough year, according to Mr Perry, as Western audiences see Rai in Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice, Aamir Khan in The Rising and Bose in Merchant Ivory's Heights. Also slated for worldwide release are Shekhar Kapur's Paani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Move 5 and Mira Nair's Vanity Fair. Also, some Western independents are launching East-West co-productions, and Hollywood studios like 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. and Columbia TriStar Films plan to distribute Bollywood films abroad, Mr Perry reports.

It was action of a different sort that brought Zev Borow, a stringer for ESPN Magazine, to India: our sports. Mr Borow - whose previous connection to India was `breaking' the story of Chadha's Bend it like Beckham in the US - visited sporting events like the India-Australia ODI in Mumbai and a soccer match in Kolkata, and met personalities like commentator Harsha Bhogle, Geet Sethi and Leander Paes. Between visiting Tendulkar's restaurant in Mumbai, checking out traditional wrestling in Delhi and the Pushkar camel race, Mr Borow quizzed people on: `Are Indians a physical people?' and `Is sport important to any country?' "The story is a look at the way this country both is similar to, and different from, the US and the rest of the world in terms of how it relates to sports in its culture," he told Business Line. The story is slated for ESPN Magazine's annual `Next' issue.

Certainly, with the markets booming, relations with Pakistan and China on a mend, and plenty of stories on jobs moving here, it is fertile ground for any Western reporter. "India is a very hot destination, and it has become very fashionable to talk about India, and do stories on India," noted a seasoned India-watcher. "The UK has been interested for some time, and the US more recently. If it means more people coming to India, and more good publicity for, everyone's happy."

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India is the new flavour for Western media