The Hindu Business Line : Mumbai talks less... works more!

Amchi Mumbai bewitched a 40-member, high-powered Japanese delegation on their premier visit to the city, no less. "Vibrant," was the general consensus. Lest one be accused of exaggeration, allow me to quote Nobuo Yamaguchi, Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), the apex organisation of 522 regional chambers representing over 1.5 million corporates, which together form a third of Japan's total business entities. Speaking at the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC), Yamaguchi confessed that Japanese businessmen had regarded India as a far-off place and this mental block prevented them from looking at the investment prospects in India. "I found the city throbbing with business activities. I have discovered that India is not far away at all, but very close in the neighbourhood."

"Let's talk and do business," urged yet another member of the delegation to which someone in the audience quipped, "In Mumbai, we don't talk, we act."

We don't know about that, but salaams are certainly due to the various chambers who got together to organise the meeting: IMC, FICCI, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture, Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry, as well as the Indo-Japanese Association. Those who addressed the meeting included JCCI Vice-Chairman, Chugo Marumori; FICCI (Western Region) Chairman, Dilip Dandekar; and IMC Secretary-General, P.N. Mogre.

Yamaguchi, who is also Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce Industry, and Niraj Bajaj, IMC Vice-President, signed an MoU for mutual cooperation between the two chambers.

Due note was also taken of the suspension of the Doha Round of the WTO, with Yamaguchi describing it as a great setback to the growth of international trade and likely to jeopardise the economic development of undeveloped countries.

Afghan's spring of hope

Afghan film-maker Hashmat Khan of Bollywood fame is the first of many actors and directors to arrive in India with a film for the forthcoming Third Eye Asian Film Festival in Mumbai and the International Film Festival of India in Goa. We love the title of Khan's film (The Spring Of Hope), which has obviously been inspired by the exquisite opening sentence of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens is referring to the French Revolution where as many as 60 heads were being guillotined each day. Touted as the first full-fledged feature film from Afghanistan, Khan's film revolves around two warring groups in Afghanistan.

We watched excerpts from the film at Mumbai's oldest, and arguably, loveliest consulate (actually, it serves as the office-cum-residence of the Consul General Gul Hussain Ahmadi and his staff.)

Having seen absolutely first-class films such as Siddiq Barmak's Osama and Atiq Rahimi's Khâkestar-o-khâk (Earth and Ashes) we have high hopes for Khan's "totally Afghani" film whose soundtrack is definitely Bollywood-inspired. Khan is madly in love with his sloe-eyed leading lady Zarrina whom he first saw as a very young girl in pigtails in Tajikistan. She now works in a bank.

Quizzed whether she'd like to act in a Bollywood film, she responded with a very definitive, "No. Ask Hashmat." However, he is already at work on his next film, whose technicians have been drawn from Chennai.

Olives from Kiwi-land

Richard Worth, an MP from New Zealand, was in town urging Indians to migrate to Kiwi country, which has a population of less than four million. He told AIAI members that NZ has a benign business environment, and he sees great scope for increasing collaboration between India and New Zealand in agri-business, particularly horticulture and winery. India is the fastest growing market for New Zealand's products, especially olive oil.Roger Woolhouse, who owns the Lusatori Olive Grove & Mill in Marlborough, said, "Already, wines imported from New Zealand are very popular in India, and we hope New Zealand olive oils will be equally popular." The Lusatori is a single-estate extra virgin olive oil on his olivery, part of a large privately owned cooperative, and is used by "discerning gourmets."

Free spirited Sabyasachi

After having made a foray into Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black, bagging three major design awards and this year's prestigious UPS/IMG Emerging Designers Fashion Award, Sabyasachi Mukherjee made his debut appearance at the UPS Tent at New York Fashion Week.

At Joss, the South-East Asian fine-dine located in the Kala Ghoda precincts, actress Raima Sen brought alive Sabyasachi's unique interpretation of Lakme's fashion statement `Free Spirit' for winter 2006. Lakme Free Spirit by day is a blend of ethno chic pinks, lilacs and corals that flirt with ethnic gold shimmer. By night, it dazzles with sparkling reds, shimmering bronze, bejewelled pinks and a hint of festive gold.

Sabyasachi was the only Indian designer invited to showcase at Milan Fashion Week 2004 and now retails at all the major fashion boutiques in India as well as at Browns in London.

Deserts, gypsies, and antique textiles have served as inspiration for Sabyasachi who believes that clothes should be an extension of one's intellect. Accordingly, he fuses traditional Indian techniques such as tea-stained fabrics and saris while bringing in a modern edge to his design.

Will his Spring/Summer 2007 Collection at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week satisfy a demanding fashion audience?

Anil Chopra, Vice-President, Lakme Lever, said, "Sabyasachi's work inspired us to invite him to participate in the Lakme Grand Finale this winter. Last year's trend-setting fashion statements by Lakme for winter 2005 and summer 2006 — Mosaic and Happy Hours — were well received by both the fashion world and the marketplace. We're confident of setting yet another milestone through our fashion statement for winter 2006 — Free Spirit."