Asad Lalljee, the adman leading Mumbai's new-found cultural enthusiasm

'If you provide good products and services, the audiences will come,' says LalLjee

If you were to pick up any book that profiles the city of Bombay before it turned into Mumbai, chances are you would encounter an Asad Lalljee-like character in its pages. Sharply dressed, accent clipped, a lover of the arts and the good life and a Western sensibility.

Everything about Lalljee is a throwback to the past when the city’s cultural identity was largely confined to its southern tip. For that is where the wealthy lived and the bulk of the city’s performance venues and art galleries were located. This is the city of Salman Rushdie and Amit Chaudhuri novels