Little road of large legacies

Meet me at Mehboob Studiordquo is an oftenheard plan And ldquoMehboob Studio ka raastardquo is the usual instruction to rickshaw drivers from commuters riding anywhere near Bandrarsquos most famous crossroads Bookmarked north by St Andrewrsquos Church this short end of Hill Road holds tales worth tellingWitness to the cinematic genius of an epic filmmaker the legendary studio christens Mehboob Khan Chowk The jewel of this junctionrsquos proximity to plush pads of actors at Band Stand and Pali Hill has rendered the studio a creative hub for 70 years The sprawling plot once wooded lush with chickoo mango jambul and jackfruit orchards was where Mehboob Khan a simple boy from Bilimora in Gujarat set up this studio in 1954 after announcing Mehboob Productions in 1945 The man who would be movie mogul had a fascinating ancestry Starstruck at a tender age weaned on Hollywood blockbusters like Cecil B DeMillersquos in tents pitched on the village ground Mehboob dreamt big Not for him to follow the farrier trade of his father Ramzan Khan a simple blacksmith shoeing the hooves of carriage horses of affluent Parsi villa owners in Gohar Baug Repeatedly attempting to run away but brought back by his father Mehboob finally secured a toehold in the city he longed to reach thanks to a supplier of horses to production housesBrian Tellis and Mohammed Hussein Zulphekari in Good Luck Restaurant PicsAditi HaralkarldquoThe turning point was meeting Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Films who was impressed by young Mehboobrsquos hope and determination From Imperial to Sagar Movietone to National Studios was his great learning journeyrdquo says a Khan family member Strategic thinking led him to construct the studio here rather than in a distant suburb Known to never fire workers Mehboob Khan stayed true to his humble roots choosing the hammer and sickle emblem as Mehboob Productionsrsquo logo ldquoFrom Aan and Anmol Ghadi to Amar and Mother India his stature grew steadily So did it for everyone filming at Mehboob Studio from Navketanrsquos Dev Anand and Chetan Anand to Tahir Husain and Nasir Husain I remember Rajesh Khanna the biggest phenomenon ever mobbed by crazed fans on our lawns Vanity vans hide actors away today The studio is currently used mainly for ads with celebrities endorsing productsndashgone are the days of modelsrdquo But movie buffs remember it all Situated mere feet from the studio Good Luck Restaurant is where I garner entertaining screen lore Mohammed Hussein Zulphekari has on his fingertips One of the sons of its founder proprietor Ramzan Ali he reels pun unintended off delightful details of shoots around the studio The opening scene of Kaamchor with slacker Rakesh Roshan lazing here in the titular role Rahul Rawailrsquos Arjun in 1985 showing the water pump building across the cafe as a backdrop and with part of its poster still seen Dharmendra wooing Tanuja in Do Chor further along the Band Stand seafront ldquoDuring those years this corner was a real paradise full of lovely trees with birds So relaxing we didnrsquot need to go to hill stations like Lonavlardquo says MohammedThe story of the Zulphekari brothersrsquo cafecumshop began in Yazd Iran Keen to seek his fortune in 1940s Bombay as a 10yearold their father apprenticed at city bakeries sleeping in gunny bags on the floor Slowly he turned a modest chaicoffee joint to this eatery serving fingerlicking kheema pav and anda burjiArmaity and Rusi Nariman backgrounded by the charcoal portrait of her greatgrandmother Soonamai Kuwarji Makidalal I down cups of Good Luckrsquos refreshing lemon tea with the neighbourhoodrsquos familiarmost face before we explore his home acre together Veteran radio jockey and cofounder of Fountainhead Promotions and Events Brian Tellis greets people at practically every step His Virendra Colony address northending the road lies close to Lourdes his childhood home ldquoIt was attached to Khajur Wadi behind We kids fed on tastyashell dates jumping the low wall to land thererdquo he saysldquoIrsquom glad walls donrsquot speak You wouldnrsquot want to hear about unmentionable mischief certain BMX biker boys got up to I constantly hung out with coconspirators in Virendra We swam at Soldierrsquos Pond about a hundred yards off and wells in the vicinity Amjad Khan lived opposite Mehboob Studio His brother Imtiaz wrote the awardwinning play Barbed Wire Blackboard for the St Andrews Parish Zonals contest which Amjad directed in 1974 the year before Sholay changed his destinyrdquoStrolling through the compound circling Virendra presents charming sights and sounds coolclustered imli coconut and plaintain groves strains of guitar and piano music wafting from windows a serene grotto that worshippers gather around at 7 pm daily this monthAshok Chheda at Jalaram StoresAn icon only a hop from Virendra Colony is Damian furniture makers of repute since 1962 when entrepreneur Damian Pereira established the firm His sons Frederick Valentine and Anselm steer forward the legacy Frederick offers an amazing account of how the company came to be fatefully if quite obviously namedndashldquoFirstly though his workshop lay in what was a jungle wilderness then our father was confident of success because the premises were located faithfully at the foot of our Lady of the Mount at Mount MaryrsquosrdquoThinking of giving the shop a personalised name Pereira scribbled his own on a piece of paper while travelling on a bus Suddenly doubtful he reconsidered the idea Was Damian not too predictable a name for the enterprise He chucked the chit from the window Only to have a strong wind spin it right back at him He threw it out again Once more it landed squarely in his lap By this time he was convinced a voice was urging lsquoDamian put forth thy name You shall be remembered for generations to comersquoFamed for what is possibly the most spectacular Xmas window dressing in town Damianrsquos exquisitely crafted nativity scene displays attract crowds from across the cityndashespecially families with childrenndashlining the street for weeks leading up to ChristmasChristmas window dressing at Damian furnishersOpposite this showroom stands centuryold Patkar Maternity Home ldquoApart from the fact that all of us were born there we took school friends to see our mumrsquos babies each time a new one arrivedrdquo laughs Orlinda Sequeira She and her cousin Amanda Valladares residing in Ocean View building earlier the DrsquoMello bungalow speak of their remarkable grandmother Leonara DrsquoMello ldquoWidowed at 26 with five children she became a popular midwife helping women particularly from wealthy Muslim families deliver at homerdquo says Orlinda ldquoA woman with spunk she worked hard at the job she was much sought forrdquo An oasis of calm amid traffic chaos outside Rajaram Wadi abutting Patkar Maternity Home harbours serene spaces not yet wrecked by towers In shaded seclusion bask picturesque singlestorey structures numbered 11 11A 11B and 11C Rajaram Wadi Orlinda and Amanda share an interesting ancestry with cousins across the garden wall in 13A the Alexanders Their grandfather Edward DrsquoMello a tophatted tailcoated stenographer among the first such in Bombay owned land including rice fields near Bandra Talkies at the rate of a rupee per square yard On a foliagefronted porch Mark Alexander describes the unique still functioning sports club his brother Sydney started in 1970 to get teenagers off the street A foreman in the machine shop of Fr Agnel Technical College Sydney supported by friends and St Andrewrsquos High School started Companeroes Spanish for ldquocompanionsrdquo He coached football and hockey players dedicating his savings and pension to keep the club going Its yellow and red brigade vaulted from local laurels to grooming champs storming major football tournaments like the Harwood League and Joaquim Carvalho who represented India at the 1984 LA Olympics Founder proprietor Damian PereiraA little further left retired marine engineer Rusi Nariman and his wife Armaity welcome me in No 11 When her father Farrokh Makidalal came to this property in 1936 his family was told by earlier neighbours of a beautiful fish pond ringed by rose gardens at the spot where their bungalow was later erected ldquoEven when we came the wadi had a massive mango tree a pretty drumstick tree plenty of papaya pear pomegranate and sitafal trees and lime and tulsi bushes My mother also cultivated black rosesrdquoRepairing to the dining table warmly laid with mawa cake and batasa biscuits my eyes catch a strikingly sized charcoal portrait of Soonamai Kuwarji Makidalal Armaityrsquos greatgrandmother whose philanthropist cousin Motlibai Wadiarsquos frame graces an adjacent mantelpiece An elderly homemaker buying groceries at Patel Provision Store formerly a grain shop agrees ldquoItrsquos a green haven gone With much of the original vegetation disappearing so has the peace of this place Instead of bird calls we hear sirens of ambulances rushing to Lilavati Hospitalrdquo Watching the road expand wide from a 30feet path to almost 90 feet in parts is the change that took getting adjusted to for Ashok Chheda of Jalaram Stores Sitting at the counter of the stall his father Padamshi Chheda opened in 1962 he says ldquoThe larger the road got its community spirit shrank Luckily some past associations do remain With loyal customers and a few walkins I manage to survive online competition Bhagwan ni daya thi small shopkeepers like me might be with you for a whilerdquo Authorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom