On the evening of May 18, Bollywood laid out a red carpet welcome for one of the world’s most powerful CEOs, Tim Cook.
On the evening of May 18, Bollywood laid out a red carpet welcome for one of the world’s most powerful CEOs, Tim Cook. And leading the charge was none other than the King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, who threw a party in Cook’s honour at his palatial residence Mannat, where corporate chieftains and well-heeled tinsel town divas made a beeline to meet and greet the current head honcho of Apple. But long before the revelries began, Cook spent time at Mehboob Studio understanding the Indian cinematic landscape and discussing possibilities of investments with Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt. (Shah Rukh Khan hosts party for Apple CEO Tim Cook at Mannat: Aishwarya Rai, Big B, Madhuri are special guests; see pics)
Talking about his meeting with Cook, producer Mukesh Bhatt told IndianExpress.com, “Mr Cook came to India to feel the terrain and anybody who comes to India very well knows that Bollywood plays an important part here. He came to understand the space and meet people from the industry, and me being the President of The Film and Television Producers Guild met him and spent some quality time. He tried to understand how the film industry functions and what kind of things we have doing. He also enquired about our music because they have iTunes.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Mehboob studio
“He is opening doors for Apple to invest into India in a big way and how Bollywood can play a vital part in it. So, we exchanged our ideas on those fronts and had very fruitful discussions. He is very buoyant about entertainment consumption and entertainment on phones which is the future. We discussed possibilities of how art could converge with technology and take things forward which was also the vision of Steve Jobs.”
Commending Cook for personally taking time out to learn about Bollywood, Bhatt said, “He was a very patient listener and wanted to learn what he should be doing and not doing first-hand. Rather than sending in his junior team, he thought, ‘let me go myself and feel the terrain and take the plunge’.”
