Universal Studios has shelved plans to shoot “Indian Summer”, a film based on the lives of Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten.

(UPDATE: On Friday, a studio spokesman was quoted as saying “Indian Summer” is continuing to be developed but will not go into production until the script, budget and cast are all in place)

Filmmaker Joe Wright, who was slated to direct the project, was quoted as saying there were creative differences between the studio and the Indian government.

Many people are not comfortable with national leaders being portrayed on celluloid in any way other than flattering.

Most leaders are interpreted by their followers in a particular manner. Any alternative recounting especially on celluloid runs into controversy.

Biopics of leaders are few and far between in Bollywood in spite of it being a vibrantly political and prolific film industry.

Some say the Indian masses tend to deify their leaders and hence are less receptive to anything critical.

And celluloid is a mass medium more than any book on history ever can be.

In Pakistan, the movie “Jinnah” starring Christopher Lee and sanctioned by the Pakistan government had also run into controversy.

But does public policy also contribute to this state of affairs?

The Indian Express says in a report that ministries don’t transfer records to National Archives “which leaves modern, democratic India’s history shrouded in secrecy”.

Does this contribute to a lack of public discussion on various facets of our leaders’ lives and policies and therefore an intolerance of alternative readings?

As for the movie “Indian Summer”, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was to appoint a liaison officer to ensure the movie did not deviate from the approved script.

Is imposing a government-sanctioned memory of events on people any different from Mayawati’s efforts to erect statues to herself?

Think Vespa, and images of Audrey Hepburn and rides down cobble-stoned streets immediately come to mind.

How about families of four riding precariously on the choked streets of Mumbai or Delhi?

Piaggio, the Italian vehicle maker that has made the Vespa since just after World War II, has made a big success of its three-wheeler auto rickshaws and commercial vehicles in India, and intends to relaunch the iconic brand here soon.

Why now, when vehicle sales are sluggish, at best? Why now, when the two-wheeler market has moved pretty much decisively to motorbikes? Why now, when a certain low-cost car is close to actually rolling into homes of a lucky 100,000?

But not so long ago, which middle-class Indian family didn’t aspire for — and wait months for — a Bajaj Chetak?

Now, despite gravity-defying motorbikes endorsed by the likes of Hrithik Roshan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, scooter sales are slowly but surely ticking up.

Sure, many of these are the gentle, gearless variety so popular with the ladies. And yes, they cannot hope to match the numbers of their more macho cousins.

But scooters are also enjoying a bit of a comeback in the west, particularly among college goers, celebs and eco-warriors, because of high fuel prices and the downturn, and a nostalgia that has revived such icons as Volkswagen’s Beetle or Fiat’s Cinquecento.

In India too, scooter sales are ticking up as Honda, Bajaj and TVS explore new, stylish and more fuel-efficient options.

Vespa — Italian for wasp, and named some say because of the high-pitched noise of its two-stroke engine or because of its shape — is no stranger to the Indian market: it was made by Piaggio and then LML in past years.

Now, Piaggio’s wholly owned subsidiary will undertake the task of wooing the Indian masses with the Italian classic.

All we need perhaps, is a scene, a la Roman Holiday or La Dolce Vita, in one of our Bollywood flicks, featuring the new Vespa, to kickstart a new generation of Vespa-lovers in India.

Who would be our own Hepburn and Peck?

A new reality show in which a bunch of suitable men vie for the hand of Bollywood starlet Rakhi Sawant is an interesting twist on the prevailing custom of Indian men choosing their brides.

“Rakhi Sawant ka Swayamvar“, which harks back to the ancient tradition of princesses choosing a groom from a line-up, began airing on Monday night, pitting more than a dozen men from varied backgrounds — and with varying singing and dancing abilities — wooing Sawant, a colourful personality known more for her antics off camera.

It may be yet another publicity stunt for Sawant, who claims she will marry one of the men at the end of the series in a traditional wedding ceremony.

It may be yet another move by the channel, fighting for eyeballs and advertisers, to score high TRPs - or Television Rating Points that show how popular a programme is.

Still, it offers some respite from the female stereotyping on the Indian airwaves: from ads that show women as being incapable of any decision save the right cooking oil for the family, to shows that glorify child marriage and female foeticide under the guise of ushering in social change.

A soap featuring a child bride married at the age of eight claims it “very sensitively portrays the plight of children who are unwittingly forced into marriage, in the name of tradition”.

A brief blink-and-you-miss-it disclaimer at the end of the show says child marriage is illegal.

Competing for shock and awe value on the same channel is another soap that features a village where newborn baby girls are drowned in a pool of milk.

Not recommended viewing in a country where the gender ratio is so skewed in some states that it has set alarm bells ringing. The networks claim they are raising awareness of these “social evils”.

But that is not a primary concern; they have TRPs to deliver, viewers to satisfy and advertisers to please.

Sure, TV is capable of sparking debate and bringing about change, but for a casual viewer seeking an insight into how India treats its women, what’s on primetime telly is scarcely redeeming, is it?

The Congress party has bought the rights to “Jai Ho”, the Oscar-winning song from “Slumdog Millionaire”, to use for its election campaign.

Although popular Bollywood song tunes have always been used after being set to new lyrics for canvassing votes, acquiring the rights to a song for election campaigning is a possible first.

Congress leaders said the song, whose title is Hindi for “Let There be Victory,” will be played during rallies in rural towns, villages and cities. But why did the party go so far as to get the song rights?

Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited the Oscar wins as a result of good governance and inclusive democracy under UPA rule.

Popular culture in India has politics, movies, cricket and religion as predominant ingredients and elections are a mix of all these.

The list of movie stars who have contested and won elections is a long one.

Occasionally a politician also forays into acting — like communist party leader Brinda Karat in the film “Amu”.

Sports and politics also mix well. Cricketers like Vinod Kambli and footballer I.M.Vijayan have acted in films. Former India player Kirti Azad has contested elections while former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin recently joined the Congress.

But the link between movies and politics is even stronger.

A simple Google search throws up various theories that try to explain why popularity on the screen transforms into votes in India.

Identifying oneself as a fan of a movie star in India is seen as assertion of one’s identity, which may be regional, linguistic or along caste lines.

Thus Indian fans are said to relate to their favourite stars at a very personal level.

The popularity of religious belief in ‘darshan’ or ‘seeing’ the deity and be ‘seen’ by her is said to have parallels with watching cinema and the way movie stars are perceived by people.

The tradition of worshipping people, as in saints and teachers, is also linked to this. Indian movie stars have been worshipped in temples in some cases.

The sheer number of films produced in India and the fact that they are affordable also ensures that the stars have wide recognition.

But though cinema is popular all over India, it is only in southern India that movie stars have had the most success as popular politicians. Movies and politics have the strongest links there.

There is no clear explanation as to why?

The “Jai Ho” song is in Hindi, a language the southern Indian electorate has an uneasy relationship with.

But will that limit its electoral appeal?

A new ad campaign featuring Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Neha Dhupia has viewers’ curiosity piqued with its almost soap opera feel, with each advert dealing with a new episode in their love triangle.

The story so far: Chopra and Khan were once together, and Chopra still carries a flame for him, and half a heart-shaped locket. Khan, who has the other half of the locket, is about to propose to Dhupia, but also still has feelings for Chopra. Incensed  Dhupia dumps Khan, and in the latest episode Chopra was looking for Khan at the airport.

So here’s the $1 million question: What was keeping them apart? You’ll never guess: Chopra’s dark complexion that lost out to fairer-skinned Dhupia.

The campaign for Hindustan Unilever’s Pond’s White Beauty will have us believe Chopra’s “wheatish” complexion - the polite term still used in Indian matrimonial ads - is the only reason she is not with her one true love.

But never fear, Priyanka, for Pond’s White Beauty with lycopene is here.  Watch the four episodes so far of Kabhi Kabhi Pyaar Mein here

These ads have only multiplied in recent years, as more cosmetics makers clamber onto the bandwagon for fairness cream which in adverts magically make women more desirable, successful and modern.

Shops stack a dizzying array of fairness creams and lotions from home-grown majors and multinationals alike. But in one way they are really fair — they now make them for men, too. The advertising, however, has guys biking on dirt roads or hanging out with their macho buddies.

Fairness creams are a multi-billion rupee industry in India, and Fair & Lovely, the original launched in 1978, is a blockbuster product for Hindustan Unilever.

Perhaps there is a case for a product that clearly has a demand in a country that places such a premium on fair skin.  Has their increasing popularity anything to do with the asipirations of millions of Indians in an increasingly globalised world? And what about their advertising?

“There is too large a population that equates fairness with beauty and superiority,” said Kiran Khalap, co-founder of brand consultancy Chlorophyll.

“It is so ingrained in our culture and sensibility, it is hard to imagine where the advertising can go from here.”

Chopra, in a promotion for the ad campaign says: “Love makes the world go round … Pond’s White Beauty gives it a helping hand.”

In love, all’s only fair, it seems.

Taking a cue from a popular 2006 Bollywood film, where the hero follows the path of non-violence to protest against injustice,  hundreds of travel agents in India sent sweets to airline offices on Monday to protest against a cut in their commission.

Come October, and most airlines in India will stop paying commissions to travel agents, citing rising operational costs.

This will effectively seal the fate of hundreds of agents who will have to close shop for good.

In India, travel agents get a five percent commission on basic fare from airlines and most of them do not charge passengers any extra money.

On Monday, about 1000 agents of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) dispatched boxes of sweets and flowers to offices of various airlines across the country.

An airline official admitted he was initially clueless to receive so many sweets for taking such a tough decision.

“We decided to follow the path of Mahatma Gandhi, as depicted in a Hindi film and tell the airlines that this is how we will protest everyday,” Anil Punjabi, chairman of TAFI says.

The film Punjabi is taking about is “Lage Raho Munnabhai” or “Carry on Munnabhai” which stars popular actor Sanjay Dutt.  He follows Gandhian values and the path of non-violence as preached by Mahatma Gandhi to protest when some aged people are thrown out of an old-age home.

The film won rave reviews and won four national awards, and people began emulating the Gandhian way briefly.

Now that it is back, I wonder whether this could be the new way of resolving corporate wars and disputes ?

PepsiCo has ended a 10-year relationship with Sachin Tendulkar, reportedly because the beverage giant felt the master batsman, at 35 and in indifferent form, is not as big a youth magnet as he used to be.

Also, at 40-50 million rupees a year (about $1 million), he was a tad pricey.

Pepsi, which recently also parted ways with former captains Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, has signed on such young cricketers as Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma for its “youngistan” campaign, targeted at a younger demographic in a country where half the population is below the age of 25 years.

At least one ad in the new campaign features Shah Rukh Khan, the 42-year old super star, although in the role of an older — the glasses are the giveaway — guardian to the young actor Deepika Padukone and beau Ranbir Kapoor.

So are ageing movie stars surer bets than ageing cricketers? Tough question in a country that’s obsessed equally with both. But there are some telltale signs.

Ever heard of an actor’s house being vandalised after a movie bombed at the box-office? Even Dhoni has had his home attacked after recent defeats.

In the world of celebrity advertising, marketers appear to have a lemming-like approach to cricket: one big knock or wicket haul has them all beating a path to the door of the cricketer du jour, with the result that the recent Twenty20 extravaganza was a blur of cricketers on field and off it, endorsing everything from styling gel to lubricants.

But cricketers are at the mercy of our board, which adds and axes at will, and advertisers are known to have “escape clauses”, particularly for younger players, that allows them to abandon a contract if the player is say, dropped from the national team.

Tendulkar, whose roster includes Adidas, Airtel, TVS Motor and Aviva, has been a top endorser for more than a decade, considered a lifetime in the notoriously fickle ad industry.

Some argue it is the uncertain nature of cricket that forces our players to embark on a seemingly exhausting round of endorsements.

Bollywood stars are equally non-discriminating, smiling for products ranging from luxury watches to fountain pens.

But who leads the crop there? Khan and the Big B, our evergreen hero, who command the highest prices, and between them endorse about two dozen brands.

What does SRK or the Big B have that a Tendulkar or a Ganguly don’t?

“It does seem counter-intuitive, if brands say they want to connect with the youth, and there are so many younger actors to choose from,” said Sumanto Chattopadhyay, executive creative director for south asia at Ogilvy & Mather.

“But clearly, SRK’s not perceived as old, and no one else has that kind of superstar power.”

So while Khan and Bachchan senior can be assured of a long inning, our cricketers have to resign themselves to even shorter stints as endorsers, he said, because of “overexposure” from the sheer amount of cricket they play, and because younger players are popping up with a greater frequency.

How about some sympathy — and some change — for our boys in blue.