ACROSS ENGLAND, 6 July: India Week 2024 concluded with its centrepiece black-tie Celebration Dinner that brought together business leaders, film, music and TV stars, as well as tech and community leaders from the UK, India and UAE in the most significant celebration of the UK-India partnership of 2024 to take place in the UK.
The highlight of the evening was BBC London presenter Asad Ahmad in conversation with billionaire and significant UK investor Pankaj Munjal. The conversation focused around Munjal’s career trajectory, scaling the business since become Chairman and Managing Director of Hero Motor Company and the challenges he faced along the way. They were preceded by Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor for Business for London, speaking the day after the General Election results.
Founder of Bridge India Pratik Dattani, said “The ‘India Story’ abroad is often presented through a narrow lens, be it focusing only on business and the economy, society or policy landscape. Given its diversity, everything about India, and its polar opposite, is true in unison. The aim of India Week is to highlight and celebrate this nuance, in a non-partisan way, and help both countries realise their bilateral potential.”
The inaugural Film Conclave took place earlier in the day, and the evening rounded it off with three Awards for artistic merit in the film and television industry. Taha Shah Badussha (Tajdar in Heeramandi on Netflix) won the Rising Talent Award, Nitin Ganatra OBE won the Contribution to Drama Award and Meera Syal CBE won the LycaRadio People’s Choice Award. Badussha was along in conversation with film journalist Anuj Radia earlier in the day, where they memorably recited a dialogue from Heeramandi, to cheers from the audience.
The UK is a home-away-from-home for Indian film and entertainment opportunities. The Film Conclave this year was the start of an annual conversation about Indian content, and the business of entertainment, in London. The event brought together film production companies, distributors, content creators, agencies and others in the entertainment supply chain to have a meaningful conversation about business opportunities across film and entertainment between the two countries. The conference discussed how film-makers can work across borders, balancing privacy and public interest in the case of Indian film stars, the British actor pathway to Hindi cinema and vice versa, as well as technology shifts in VFX and generate AI and how to secure an OTT deal, featuring filmmakers and producers such as Riffi Khan (Come Dine With Me, The Only Way is Essex), Sudipto Sarkar (Operation Mayfair), Lesley-Anne Macfarlane (Little English) and others.
The flagship Ideas for India conference, curated by award-winning think tank Bridge India, brought together think tanks, policy makers and business leaders to talk about the bilateral partnership. It was the held the day immediately after the General Election, and the morning focused on discussing the shape of the bilateral partnership under a Labour majority in Westminster, what to expect from the Indian economy and government over the next five years and a case study of the Punjab General Election results. Law firm Shakespeare Martineau hosted a high-powered session led by head of India Desk Sneha Nainwal with Fox Mandal and others on the economic priorities for both new UK and India governments.
One of the highlights of the day was exploring India’s rising soft power. Author Joseph Nye coined the term to explain the ability to affect others by attraction and persuasion rather than just coercion and payment. Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of the world-leading Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and author, podcaster and former international cricketer Azeem Rafique.
The afternoon at India’s global forum in London celebrated the role of global female entrepreneurs and the beauty industry, including Aashni Shah, Founder of Aashni+Co, philanthropist Priyanka Chaudhuri Raina, global editorial director for Conde Nest Traveller Divia Thani and launch editor-in-chief Sujata Assomull.
There was a concurrent two-day special exhibition of The Anand Brothers: A Journey Through Film, and more than 40 exhibitors aross fashion, lifestyle, beauty and banking. The evening saw a drinks reception jointly hosted with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry with over 200 attendees. Elsewhere in the week, we hosted an education conference in Oxford and an award dinner in the House of Commons with Lord Shaun Bailey on the night before the General Elections, featuring music from Ustad Johar Ali Khan from the Lucknow Gharana, and ICCR Chair of Music at Birmingham City Univesity.
Over the course of the India Week, more than 1,110 people from the UK, India, the UAE and elsewhere attended, placing it firmly as India’s global forum, in London.
