The Hindu Business Line : Free flowing

Canada-based filmmaker Deepa Mehta is a happy woman at last. After contending with politicians who pulled the plug on Water, her Hindi film on the plight of Indian widows and after struggling for more than five years to get it made (which she finally did, shooting in Sri Lanka), the film is being released all over the country by BR Films.

The Indian release comes after the film's box-office and critical (thumbs up from Roger Ebert, Salman Rushdie and a host of other luminaries) success around the world, not to speak of its selection as Canada's official entry for the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This is another feather in Deepa's cap after receiving the Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review. The film was also named one of the 10 best pictures by the NY Film Critics Online and received their Humanitarian Award. A.R. Rahman has composed the music which will be available for the first time ever in the history of music in India on an iPod Shuffle.

The Italian connection

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath's special address at the India-Italy Business Forum was impressive, although the one delivered by Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy, was not. But that was because Signor Prodi persisted in turning away from the mike and pointedly looking at the minister, while stating that Europe and Italy in particular had opened up their markets to Indian products. Something that India has yet to do. Kamal Nath, however, ruled out unbridled access to the First World on the ground that India had to safeguard the interests of our farmers. That said, he acknowledged that he'd been beaten by Fiat and Ferrari bossman Signor Luca in terms of sheer numbers. While the minister had taken about 150 Indian businessmen to Italy last year, Signor Luca led a 400-plus delegation, the largest ever to visit India; actually more than 600 had registered, but 200 were unable to get airline seats. Which shows that it's not just the needs of trade and commerce that must be addressed. The major sectors of bilateral cooperation envisaged infrastructure, IT, telecommunications, industrial machinery, healthcare, textiles and garments, gems and jewellery, fashion design, leather, food processing, energy, automobile and auto components.

The Forum was organised by Assocham, CII and FICCI along with their Italian counterparts. Fiat is tying up with the Tatas and soon, the Maserati and Ferrari will roar over Indian roads. Before that happens, an office of the Italian Trade Commission will be set up in Kolkata, which didn't impress a few members of the Italian contingent. But a source said that Chennai will figure prominently in the next forum.

JRD TATA Audio-Book

JRD Tata has been immortalised in an audio-book, Beyond the Last Blue Mountain - A Life of JRD Tata. The title seems to have been inspired by the name of a book on Goa by the Orientalist adventurer, explorer and author Richard Burton, who is better known for translating the Kama Sutra and The Arabian Nights, travelling in disguise to Mecca, and journeying to discover the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton wrote his first book Goa and the Blue Mountains in 1850. The JRD audio-book is the latest in a series published by Charkha after the success of their audio-books Wings of Fire (the autobiography of President APJ Abdul Kalam) and Mahatma Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments With Truth. The JRD book is written by Rusi Lala, and features actors Boman Irani and Shernaz Patel, and musician Shankar Mahadevan. The first copies went to Keshub Mahindra and V Tulsidhas, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, the airline JRD founded.

Animal Parade

The Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) is putting up an eye catching `Animal Parade' on the stretch of the IMC Marg spanning Churchgate Railway Station and the Seafront at Marine Drive, as part of its centenary programme for the city's beautification. Both the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) and JJ School of Arts are participating in the endeavour; the latter is a partner for its 150th anniversary. Such parades are a normal feature in many foreign countries. The most comical, to my mind, are the roosters in a Berne street. The IMC's Animal Parade consists of 25 lifelike fibreglass replicas of cows, lions and elephants that were painted by art students at the JJ campus. After display at the above-named sites for about two years, the animal replicas might be gifted to the BMC for display at their schools, parks and other premises. Alternatively, the sculptures will be auctioned and the money donated to charity.