Greetings Curry Lovers!

This week we are considering the vagaries of the media (or meedja as we call it) world! Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor at stellar Indian company 'Infosys' is the first Indian to have been named the World Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. This is a true business accolade as he was selected by a panel of 11 judges - each of whom is a past participant in the Entrepreneur Of The Year program in his or her country. The announcement came in the same week that a British firm called 'Bombay Bangers' started exporting its 'Quick Curry Fix' to holiday makers in Tenerife. I can't help but think that Mr Murthy, who stills in a modest apartment despite running a company employing 76,000 people, would probably approve of the entrepreneurial streak in the Bombay Bangers team.

NARAYANA MURTHY - WORLD ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR	BRITISH FIRM EXPORTS CURRY TO TENERIFE
Indian billionaire, Narayana Murthy, who started his software company 22 years ago with US$250 was named Ernst & Young's 2003 World Entrepreneur Of The Year on 7th June 2003. read more	A British owned company is set to become a saviour for thousands of UK holidaymakers by exporting its 'Quick Curry Fix' convenience food to the isle of Tenerife. read more

Redhotcurry.com has also been hitting the headlines of late. Apart from winning the Windrush Achievement Awards 2003 in the Internet & Technology category on Saturday 21 June, the site has just signed a contract with digital media specialist Ad 2 One who now sell our online media space. You will have noticed that we now feature a banner from one our sponsors, BT. Please feel free to click on our sponsor's banner or link - personally I feel it very forgiving of them after what I said about their last batch of "surf together" adverts in our feature article on the 'Asianisation of British Advertising'.

ASIAN PORTAL WINS WINDRUSH AWARD	'ASIANISATION" OF BRITISH ADVERTISING
Redhotcurry.com, a lifestyle portal for UK Asians developed by Mrs Lopa Patel, was voted the Outstanding Champion for the Internet & Technology section at this year's Windrush Achievement Awards 2003. read more	There are so many Asian faces in British adverts that it is hard to believe that Asians are still an ethnic minority in this country. But how successful are these portrayals? Whatever the 'endgame', why do so many advertisers get it so badly wrong? read more

Another team revealing a new batch of Asian faces is 'Bombay Dreams' the musical with Stephen Rahman-Hughes and Zehra Naqvi taking on the lead roles previously played by Raza Jaffrey & Preeya Kalidas. The organisers have a ** SPECIAL 6 for 4 TICKET ** offer until 6th July so this might be an ideal time to be a dutiful Asian and take your mother, father, uncles, aunties and grandparents to one of the West End's most entertaining shows. If black comedy is more to your liking, then AWA-Award-winner Tanika Gupta's adaptation of 'Hobson's Choice' might suit. The show starts on 26 June at the Young Vic Theatre and will be on UK Tour after it's London run ends on 9th August.

BOMBAY DREAMS UNVEILS NEW CAST	HOBSON'S CHOICE
As I waited with the tense and nervous hopefuls auditioning for the chance to star in 'Bombay Dreams' earlier in March this year, it struck me how important the show has become for British Asians. A New cast was unveiled on 17 June. read more	Tanika Gupta is one of the hottest writing talents around. The AWA Award winner 2003 has now she's turned her attention to updating Harold Brighouse's 1916 classic Northern comedy 'Hobson's Choice' at London's Young Vic Theatre from 26 June - 9 August. read more

This week we are also half-way through the annual 'Bite the Mango' film festival which takes place in Bradford. 'Bite The Mango' is featuring a retrospective on influential Hindi filmmaker R V Shantaram and a Bollywood season of Anil Kapoor films with screenings of Armaan, Mr India, Pukar, 1942 - A Love Story and Virasat. The actor will be featured 'In Conversation', talking about his film career and may be appearing at the festival's closing party on Thursday 26 June. The festival is also screening Mumbai Matinee on Tuesday 24 June and Jhankar Beats on Wednesday 25th June - both films are based on Indian Advertising executives and star the critically acclaimed Rahul Bose.

Those who prefer their film intake to be strictly 'Bollywood' might like to know that the Godfather of Hindi Cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, is to appear in an extremely stylish production called 'Boom' alongside leading lady of yesteryear, Zeenat Aman, who is best remembered for her choli-less role in 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna'. Naturally I am not old enough to remember the original.....I am just recalling it from the re-runs on B4U!

Those more interested in Art House Cinema might like to know about screenings at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) in London that will be showing acclaimed films 'The Clay Bird' and 'My Mother India' this July.

BITE THE MANGO FESTIVAL, 20 - 26 JUNE	BOOM - UK PREMIERE ON 24 JULY 2003
This year's Bite The Mango film festival in Bradford has a Retrospective of filmmaker R V Shantaram and Bollywood season featuring Anil Kapoor. The festival runs from 20 - 26 June 2003. read more	Boom!, combines the talents Amitabh Bachchan with leading lady Zeenat Aman and a host of photogenic heroes and Indian Supermodels to produce a film that is like "Snatch meets Charlie's Angels". It premieres in London on 24th July. read more
THE CLAY BIRD, STARTS 4TH JULY 2003	'MY MOTHER INDIA', STARTS 11TH JULY 2003
The Clay Bird is a tender and beautiful evocation of a boy's coming of age in politically unstable East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the late nineteen sixties. The film is being screened at the ICA in London from 4th July 2003. read more	A bittersweet meditation on cultural legacies by director Safina Ubersol examining her mother's journey from Australia to India as well as her own experience as a fair skinned 'foreigner' in India. From 11th July at the ICA. read more

If all of this is making you hungry......well, let's face it, thoughts of food are rarely out of my mind....you may be delighted to hear of a terrific 'Global Masala' contest organised by Mela 2003 in conjunction with the Taj Group of Hotels. The only requirement is that you have to cook! Submit your 'Global Masala' recipes into their cookery contest and you might win a trip to the exclusive Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Before you go rushing off for your granny's secret recipes, just a note about the 'Story on My Tongue' lecture series at London's South Bank Centre. The last event in the series on 17th July 2003 has Shyama Perera, journalist and writer, chairing a discussion between visual artist Mohini Chandra, novelist Romesh Gunesekera, and musician and record producer, Aki Nawaz. This series explores the reaction of the media, critics and audiences to South Asian art in Britain. How have the wider British audience responded? And what is the response of South Asian communities to the new forms?

TAJ LAUNCHES 'GLOBAL MASALA' CONTEST	THE STORY ON MY TONGUE
Mela 2003 have teamed up with The Taj Group of Hotels to launch a cookery contest that offers British supercooks a chance to fly out to India and cook with top chefs from the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Closing Deadline is 1 Aug read more	London's South Bank Centre brings together some of the most dynamic practitioners to hear their 'Stories'. The Story on my Tongue - South Asian Diaspora Arts in Britain' lecture series & panel discussions runs until 17 July 2003. read more

Well, if the response I have received in the past week is anything to go by, then I can honestly say that you have all taken Redhotcurry.com to heart. Many thanks for all your kind comments and emails. They are the ones keeping me going as I sit here "burning the midnight oil" and plundering the 'Oxford Book of Quotations'!

Until next time,
Lopa Patel (Editor - redhotcurry.com)

PS. Our special free gift offer for new users who sign-up is simmering nicely, so why not tell a friend to sign-up? They might be grateful for the suggestion.