Calling CannesArun Nanda of Rediffusion is among the fortunate few who have managed to escape the rains. Instead of getting his feet wet in the Mumbai monsoon, he is presently working on a tan in the South of France. But it is not all play and no work for Arun. He is part of a panel of judges for the international ad awards in Cannes. And he must be enjoying every minute no doubt basking in the glory of being the first Indian judge at this prestigious ceremony.President's prideEL Mexicano, at the President Hotel has become the place to be seen at. Tables have to be booked at least a week in advance. You can catch the likes of Noshir Talhati and Ness Wadia enjoying their lethal frozen margueritas. Ness likes the place so much that a couple of weeks ago he had his birthday dinner here. About 20 of Ness's closest friends had a gala night and seemed to be downing tequila shots at breakneck speed. Vinod and Kavita Khanna are regulars of the restaurant too. On locationHelen Brodie, the latest British export, to hit the Indian film industry spent the whole weekend shooting for her first Hindi film Sar Aankhon Par . She is making a guest appearance with Mukul Dev. The film is produced by Vivek Vaswani and is about a small-time actor making his way up in Bollywood. The film will include guest appearances by many stars playing themselves.Border bashTHE much-awaited release of JP Dutta's Border took place early last week. And very much in the spotlight was Akshaye Khanna, who's role has been praised by film critics. And as usual Bollywood flocked to the opening but spotted were a fair sprinkling of socialites. Chatting with Akshaye was Aarti Surendranath. This fashion designer is obviously very busy with her husband's new film as her dress sense of late has not been up to the mark. Along with Aarti and Kailash was Amitabh Nanda, who seems to be their shadow at every social event. And since no filmi evening is complete without the Thackeray family, representing the Shiv Sena were Raj Thackeray and wife (wearing tight jeans, a Linda Evans-type padded T-shirt and stilettos).Art beatTHE cultural event of the week was the opening of Art Aegis's new exhibition. Promoted by Lisa Ray and Nisha Jhamwal, guests were treated to expensive white wine, a live violinist (none of that piped stuff for the upper crust) and exotic canapes. Spotted at the do were Meghna Reddy, Suneeta Rao, musician Dee Wood, Rahul Bose, Riyad Wadia and artist Milon Mukherjee. Writer Vikram Chandra was also there - back from Washington and doing his four-month India stint. His new book, Love and Longing in Bombay, has been sold out. But the news of his success had been drowned by the din surrounding Arundhati Roy's book. And finally .As the rains start, Mumbai loses its zest. That's because most of the happening people begin a mass exodus. Tina Ambani has just returned from her holiday but others are just starting to go away. Among those spotted in London recently were Kiron Kher, Lata Mangeshkar, Daler Mehendi and Yash and Pamela Chopra.
