Gulshan Mahal - A Heritage Structure which will house the First Phase of the National Museum of Indian Cinema

GULSHAN MAHAL: A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH

On South Mumbai’s arterial Dr G. Deshmukh Marg (Peddar Road) stands a 19^th century charming bungalow within the present campus of the Films Division, India’s largest documentary film producing public unit under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India.

Still retaining its pristine grandeur like a jewel in the crown, the bungalow now known as Gulshan Mahal was once named Gulshan Ābād (Garden of Prosperity) whose first known owner was Peerbhoy Khalakdina (1816-1868), a pious merchant belonging to Khoja community from the village of Bhārāpar (near Bhuj) in Kachchh. Peerbhoy came to Bombay / Mumbai with his wife Rehmabai and their young son, Jairazbhoy Peerbhoy (1833-1887) in the mid-19^th century. Gulshan Ābād, the main residence of the Khalakdina family, was inherited by Noormohamad Jairazbhoy from his father and upon Noormohamad’s early death without issue; the property was inherited by his younger brother Cassamally Jairazbhoy (1886-1938). The entire estate consisted of structures on approx. five wooded acres of land overlooking the Arabian Sea.

After losing two wives, Cassamally married the Burma-raised Khoja woman Khurshid Rajabally (1902-1989) and soon the house acquired additional civic, literary, musical and artistic aura. Otherwise quiet and cool evenings will musically ring with qawwali mehfils, besides social and religious gatherings. The surrounding land was scaped with magnificent Japanese, Chinese and other types of gardens. Khurshid Khanum also reversed the main entrance to the house to its present address on Peddar Road, as that would provide a dramatic view of the Arabian Sea on entering from the west side of the main hall. A music room was created for her sitar lessons from the resident sitarist, Madhav Lal of Mathura, who also taught her son, Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy (1922-2009).  Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy became a renowned musicologist and documentary filmmaker on India’s musical traditions.

Interestingly, Gulshan Mahal also traces its historic connections to documentary filmmaking with which the Films Division is deeply rooted in. In 1932, Cassamally Jairazbhoy went on the hajj accompanied by his wife and his mother-in-law Shireen Moosa Rajabally, a foster child of Noormohammad Jairazbhoy. Mrs. Jairazbhoy had filmed the pilgrimage and that was probably one of the earliest documentary films made by an Indian woman. During their educational presentations in the United States and Europe, the couple would screen this b&w documentary with inter-titles, and its copy was received by the Nizam of Hyderabad at his request.

The well-known conservation architect, Ms Abha Narain Lambah describes the Gulshan Mahal structure as ‘high Victorian gothic; perhaps the mature Victorian style of the 1870s and 1890s.’ During his last days, the eminent city historian Sharada Dwivedi (1942-1912) was engaged researching the history of the building that needs to be carried further. According to some accounts, the building was requisitioned by the then Government and converted into a hospital for soldiers returning from World War II. Sometime later, it had also housed Jai Hind College (now at Churchgate) for a short period. During Partition, the entire estate was acquired by the Government of India as evacuee property.

After independence in 1947, the building had housed the Office of the Documentary Films of India and then the Films Division. In 1976, offices of the Films Division were shifted to a new building constructed on the campus, and thereafter it remained unoccupied for a long time. The present Gulshan Mahal is a heritage structure that will house the First Phase of the National Museum of Indian Cinema.

 [Text by Amrit Gangar in consultation with Dr Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, w/o of the Late Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy. Dr Catlin-Jairazbhoy is a faculty member, Department of Ethnomusicology, Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Additional inputs from the Films Division].