we were special invitees to a private screening of a documentary film called 'keepers of the flame' last saturday at the godrej theatre,n.c.p.a. zafar hai the wellknown filmmaker was commissioned by the tatas to make this documentary to commemorate the hundredth death anniversary of nusserwanji and the birth centenary of jrd. the film traces the origin and the growth of the tatas starting from nosherwanji who relocated from navsari in gujerat to the then bombay to start his career in cotton trading.the documentary tracks the lives of three generations of tatas-nosherwanji,jamshedji and jrd.
i must say i was in for some pleasant surprise.facets of the personalities of these doyens which one had not read or heard about hitherto. brilliant photography,excellent onscreen narration by the flamboyant kabir bedi,a well prepared script narrating the tata family's rise to become a top industrial group in india,their ethics and the vision of the founder came out in the most convincing manner.the pictures of the now raj bhavan at kolkata where lord curzon stayed when he was viceroy and victoria memorial made me very nostalgic.the many firsts of the tata group- empress cotton mills at nagpur,steel plant at jamshedpur,taj mahal hotel at mumbai,tata institute of science at bangalore where nobel laurate c v raman worked and air india were shown alongwith the stupendous efforts and sacrifices made by the family in the last 100 years to create world class institutions.the sacking of jrd, the first chairman of airindia, by morarji desai when he became prime minister was poignant.
both jamshedji and jrd were buried in paris the city they loved.they were passionate about india but it was an irony that they died abroad and had to be buried in foreign soil.it was an one hour documentary and we came out with pride over the achievements of this philanthropic group.their rise to eminence,their zeal to industrialise india,their love for their adopted motherland and their value system.
the movie was preceded by tea and snacks and followed by cocktails in the lawn.the weather played a bit of a spoilsport as it was very sticky.not unusual though at this time of the year in mumbai.a bit of breeze from the sea would have helped.we met many of our friends and it was good fellowship.a clear gainer was s who got some bookings and commitment for 'dignity lifestyle'.
zafar hai, bahut hi accha hai.
2 comments:
i watched the film on NDTV Profit the other day and quite liked it uncle. jamshedji was really an incredible man!
a very nice post. i've tried to comment on this blog for a week but somehow always get the word verification wrong so havent been very patient with the comments.
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