This month, the Indian government became a film producer to enhance bilateral ties with Nepal, sponsoring a documentary that pays tribute to seven Nepalis who created a niche for themselves in Mumbai and yet, remain mostly unknown to the Indian aam admi as Nepalis.
While Manisha Koirala, the reigning diva of Bollywood in the 1970s, is known to be from Nepal, few however know that Bollywood's versatile musician "Manoharida", the right-hand man of maestro R D Burman, or artist Laxman Shrestha, who rubbed shoulders with diverse greats like MF Husain and Ratan Tata, are also from Nepal.
These icons as well as four more -- golden-voiced singer Udit Narayan Jha, glamour photographer Rakesh Shrestha, set designer Anjan Gajurel and cameraman Basanta P Karmacharya -- have now narrated their Bombay dreams through "Rainbow over Mumbai", the gripping documentary made by Nepali director Shekhar Kharel that premiered in Kathmandu this month.
The short film is an amazing treasure trove of anecdotes about Indian greats. Few know, for instance, that R D Burman could not complete the score for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1993 film "1942: A Love Story", which was finished after his death by Manohari Singh, the legendary saxophone player who was also R D's music arranger.
Shrestha, whose paintings were bought in bulk by industrialists like Ratan Tata and Kumar Mangalam Birla, provides unusual glimpses into the lives of his patrons, who also became his friends over the years.
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