Londoners are keen to show that there?s nothing rotten in the state of England. London Mayor Ken Livingstone was in Mumbai the other day. At his press conference, not only did all the British speakers allude appreciatively to Bollywood, the mayor?s own speech was interrupted by a hit song Tera naam liya, tujhe yaad kiya (from Ram Lakhan) blaring out from the blue. It took a while for the hotel staff to decipher the problem and rectify it, but in no less than 10 seconds, the song started playing again. Livingstone retained his composure and continued his speech selling London to Indian investors. Later, at a do in honour of Amitabh Bachchan, the actor said he was glad that the mayor received so much media attention, especially for risking a peak-hour experience on a local train. ?Now I know what to do to boost the popularity charts when required,? quipped Bachchan.
Whistle past
With auto majors Tata Motors and M&M locked in a battle for British marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover, it?s but natural that the subject has the media agog. At an Autocar show in Mumbai, the media hovered around M&M?s chief Anand Mahindra to get that perfect pose and golden soundbyte on the deal. Mahindra, aware of exactly what the media was after, carefully avoided letting a word slip. Not only that, he made it a point to nonchalantly pass the Land Rover by whilst checking out the other SUVs on display.