Cinema Paradiso

Prabhatnagar was a crowd-puller, attracting tourists as well as locals. Situated on a sprawling 21 acres, under the aegis of V Shantaram, S Fatehlal and V G Damle, over 500 people worked in various departments. Around 9.30 am, these people, some on foot and others on bicycles, would head for the studios for their daily work. Similarly, at 6 pm, they would be on their way back home – the two occasions when Prabhat Road used to be thronged with people.

For tourists, it was a dream come true to visit the studios, the biggest in Asia then. The outdoor shootings in its premises drew heavy crowds. Particularly on Wednesday and Sundays, between 9 am and 11 am, when visitors were taken around the studio and Prabhat Road would be packed with tourists. The Dalda company cashed in on this opportunity by stationing a mobile van at the studio’s entrance and churning hot sheera!

There was not a single shop on Prabhat Road. There was nothing beyond the Laxman Hotel (towards Deccan Gymkhana) – it was just a thick forest. In the 15th lane of Prabhat Road, we could see just one hut – that of Pandit Kavdeshastri, Lokmanya Tilak’s physician.

I remember going with Madhubala, the actress, and her sisters to watch a movie, Seedha Rasta, a Prabhat Studio production, in 1948. It was a 3 p.m. show. On our way back, the car broke down, so we decided to walk back home. All along the route, people stared at this ravishing beauty.

Thanks to the sparse population here, tongas were rare. So, if anybody wanted to go out of station, he had to walk to Deccan Gymkhana. And that used to be quite irritating.

There is a bungalow called Vasant Villa on Prabhat Road where Dev Anand and Guru Dutt used to stay in the mid-1940s. Since Prabhatnagar was close by for them, they used to go cycling to work everyday.

When I came to stay in Prabhat Road, for the first time in 1933, this road was studded with the who’s who from the cultural, literary and artistic field. Shantaram, Fatehlal and Damle resided here. Then, there was also actress Shanta Apte’s bungalow and actor Suresh Babu Mane’s house. Acclaimed theatre personality Keshavrao Bhole and even noted litterateur N C Kelkar lived here. Noted author Madhav Julian and well-known artist P S Kale also added glamour to our road.

Well, those were the days. Now, only their bungalows remain.