German filmmaker Bernd Lützeler was born in Dusseldorf and through his films and research, stirred up a link between the Indian city of Mumbai and German city of Dusseldorf. Lützeler received much of his cinematic training in Berlin and later travelled the globe learning about world cinema, its moving image projection form and the nitty gritty details of its aesthetic side. He is an active member of Berlin Film Lab, run by artists like him. But his years in Mumbai when he did extensive research on Indian cinema, helped to hone up his skills. He thus felt the need to make a short film on Indian cinema titled Camera Threat. This 30-minute experimental movie outlines the relationship of the city of Mumbai with its movie hub, Bollywood. Recognised as an ode to the Bollywood masala movies, Camera Threat has leading protagonists speak on films and fiction, instead of facts. The film was released in March 2017 and premiered at the Berlin International Festival. While the film production was on, Lützeler may have taken a flight from Dusseldorf to Mumbai. His other famous experimental films include True Love Is Just Filmi, The Voice of God and Unterwegs meet Maxim Gorky.
The city of Wuppertal, near Düsseldorf in West Germany, has the oldest mono rail system set up in 1901, while Mumbai has one of the latest and longest mono rail system, started in 2014. Originally located in Wuppertal, the Dusseldorf mono rail is used as a regular means of transport. The 20 station railway network spans 13.3 km, joining Wuppertal with adjoining areas. This unique Wuppertal suspension railway has the world’s oldest electrical elevated grid with hanging cars. The passenger footfall is around 25 million every year. Situated at a height of 39ft, this suspension railway system covers the entire stretch of the journey in just 30 minutes.
Düsseldorf also has a modern monorail at its airport, called ‘Skytrain.’ This 2.5km long rail track has hanging cars and cost 150 million Euros to be built. It has six trains operating between long distance stations and three terminals. For most passengers, the ride is an experience as the system works driverless.
Unlike Wuppertal, the Mumbai Monorail isn’t a hanging car railway system. Constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, it is regarded as the 5th largest monorail system of the world. The entire phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by 2017. Until now it stretches for 8.9km with seven stations and around 20,000 passengers commuting daily. The entire stretch from Jacob Circle to Chembur takes about 20 minutes. So the next time you take a flight from Dusseldorf to Mumbai, do not forget to take a ride on Mumbai’s newly unveiled monorail network.
Messe Düsseldorf India Pvt. Ltd, the Indian section and 100% subsidiary company of the trade fair organizer company Messe Düsseldorf GmbH has its Indian operations in Mumbai and New Delhi. The parent company has around 1400 employees with a contributor range of 26,300 exhibitors in Dusseldorf alone. It helps in organising trade fairs all over the world. Staff often take a flight from Dusseldorf to Mumbai before such events.
Their Indian venture started in 2012 and since then they have organized 14 events with seven more in the line-up for next two years. Primarily they started off with medical diagnostic and metallurgic products but gradually spread their wings to other sectors like welding, glass and wire manufacturing. Apart from their own trade fairs, they have successfully partnered with International PackTech India, Glasspexx India wire, Essen Welding India, Medical Fair India and others. Established in 2007, this company is looking forward to collaborating more with big Indian market players as India’s presence in the global market increases.