For six decades, Mehboob Studio has been crucial to India’s cinematic progress

The leafy cover hides one of India’s famous cinematic monuments at 100, Hill Road, Bandra. As one enters Mehboob Studio—which has been a prominent address for the film fraternity for six decades—past the garden in the front, stark buildings greet the visitor. The starkness, of course, is deceptive. The enclosed stages, where sets are created, belie any clue of how Sanjay Leela Bhansali is giving shape to his upcoming celluloid dream Guzaarishor the grand platform created for Akshay Kumar’s new show for a television channel.

What’s stranger is that despite being at the helm of churning out reels and reels of dreams for decades, Mehboob Studio still maintains its enigma. However, a group of early-risers will get a chance today to explore this property and rediscover the visionary, Mehboob Khan, who established this. As part of Celebrate Bandra Festival, documentary filmmaker Anuradha Tandon will be taking them for a tour of the studio. “Very few have visited the studio even though it has been a part of Bandra’s folklore, and continues to be a prominent landmark.”

Khan, who was famous for his proclivity for creating lavish sets, always wanted to have his own studio. When he bought this four-acre land in 1950, he was already a big name with films like Aurat (1940), Anmol Ghadi (1946) and Andaz (1949) to his credit. For the Dilip Kumar-starrer Aan (1951), his first colour film, the legendary producer-director created a huge sports arena here. However, the studio took three more years to be ready and fully functional. Amar (1954) bagged the distinction of being the first film to be made there while Mother India (1958) is known for its elaborate sets.

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