MUMBAI: Rahul Bose, Ness Wadia and Anupam Kher launched the DVD of a new six-part travelogue on TV by Simone Ahuja titled Indique – Untold Stories of Contemporary India last week. It is a travel series projecting today’s India, and is airing nationally in the US this year, and on several international airlines including Northwest Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. It features ecotourism, luxury travel, ayurvedic spas, India‘s burgeoning wine industry, the Indian National Rugby Team and more. The DVD is being released by Excel Home Videos.

According to producer/director Ahuja, “The India we see today is not really reflected abroad. We wanted to create a larger palette for viewers to choose from. The kind of things that are not covered – we have a responsibility to change those images.”

The launch was followed a panel discussion on the image of India in the eyes of foreigners, and what we should be doing to change it. Simone posed the first point of discussion to the panel: ‘How is India perceived abroad?’

Rahul Bose, clad in a brown printed shirt and skinny blue jeans, was of the opinion that there has been an attitudinal change towards India, a greater appreciation of India‘s spiritual and cultural diversity. Moreover, the people abroad now see India as a place to make money in, do business in, and also lead a decent quality of life.

Ness Wadia, who turned out in a business suit, agreed with Rahul that it’s the economical situation, which has changed the perception. He stated, “I have studied in the UK and US. There was always an inferiority complex in England. We’d tried very hard to be friends with classmates from there, but they just didn’t care. For them, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis are all the same.”  

Anupam Kher, casual in a black shirt, said, “There’s always a sense of wonder we have when we go abroad. We need to ask ourselves – how important is it for us to be perceived over there in the right way? But things are changing. I’m happy that the roles being offered to me from abroad are no longer of an Indian doctor or a mahout or something!”

Indique – Untold Stories of Contemporary India shows viewers the many faces of today’s India including the lesser seen side of Bollywood that features a day with playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan; actor/director Rahul Bose in his role on the Indian National Rugby Team, and a segment with filmmaker Mira Nair who gives her perspective on marked changes taking place in contemporary Indian cinema.  Further, it explores the brilliance of the dabbawallas’ lunch delivery system, the lost art of the Bollywood billboard painters, and a walk through Jehangir Gallery with MF Hussain, the father of Indian contemporary art.  

Ahuja commented, “The point of creating this series is to present alternative images of India to international audiences, and to create a platform for a conversation about these images, as we did with our panel discussion. Our larger goal is to create a sense of global understanding and a sense of community around the world.”