Mumbai: The City Of Dreams has yet to come to terms with the extreme and extraordinary downpour of 2005, has witnessed heavy rainfall again this week, and the film industry is anxious.

Normal life and transportation were thrown off kilter in a few areas, nevertheless the state of affairs were very much under control.

Sushma Reddy, who had to cancel a meeting because of the cloudburst, was quoted as saying: "I dread this. It really annoys me; people always get stranded somewhere. I was supposed to meet someone for work but had to cancel it because it was raining. People have called off appointments owing to the heavy showers.

The BMC (Mumbai's civic body) should do something, considering the appalling situation last year. I have just one request to make - please fix the drains. As compared to south Mumbai, suburbs are very low-lying and need a better drainage system."

One resident of these very suburbs, actor Koena Mitra, speaks of her encounter with the rains.

"I live in Oshiwara and I was stuck at Bandra. I don't quite like the rainy season. I don't really enjoy it after the last year's incident," she says.

One more celebrity recollecting the 26/7 'jhatka' is the stunning Nescafe lady, Maushmi Udeshi.

"Fortunately, I was not stranded since I was at home, but I'm really scared of rains, especially after what happened last year. My car didn't come from the service station for three months," exclaimed Maushmi Udeshi.

If it seems the dislike of the showers is a common sentiment among our highly venerated film industry, this is not so. At least one actor looks forward to the rains.

Viveck Vaswani: "I was not really stuck. In fact I am a Cancerian and I always look forward to the monsoons. I really love the rainy season and enjoy it to the hilt."

That is what some of our actors currently in Mumbai have expressed; but what about those on shoots or holiday elsewhere?

"I'm shooting in Goa right now, it's raining but the situation is under control. I always look forward to the rainy season and I guess we all should welcome it. One can't blame the monsoons for disorders and stuff. We have to learn to deal with the weather. Also, polythene bags should be banned completely as they pose a serious threat to the environment," says Gangster actress Kangana.

Another out of town actor is Atul Kulkarni of Rang De Basanti fame.

"I'm in Solapur. It's generally a dry area, but it's raining out here and I am enjoying it," he says enthusiasticly.

It seems Mumbai's buoyant spirits may become damp, even absolutely soaked, but never drowned, and we are all glad of that.

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