Famous for good reason

Updated On: 15 May, 2022 09:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Aastha Atray Banan

One of the city’s most iconic studios turns 75. Famous Studio’s Anant Roongta talks about what continues to keep them relevant

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A colourised version of a photograph that shows a wedding scene being shot in Famous Studios in 1948

It was in the early 1900s that Juharmal Roongta decided to leave Rajasthan and head to Mumbai to discover what business opportunities the city held for him. He worked in the jute and cotton industry, and even dabbled in stock trading before he came into possession of a piece of land in Mahalaxmi, where Famous Studios stands today. “A Muslim gentleman owed my great-great grandfather some money, and when he was unable to repay, he transferred this land’s ownership to him. We retained the name Famous, as the original property was called that,” says Anant Roongta, the proprietor of one of Mumbai’s most famous studios, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary year. “Construction,” says, Anant, began in the 1940s, and “by June 1946, Asia’s first air-conditioned studio was open for business”. It was headed by JB Roongta , who was also the founding president of The Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association, before his son Arun Roongta took over.

For the past three years, Famous Studios has had a co-working space