It is the end of the road for the iconic Filmistan Studios in Goregaon (West), located off the Swami Vivekananda Road, in which dozens of major films were shot and produced, had prominent film dynasties associated with it, but now serves infrequently as a shooting floor for film sequences and some television shows.
Mumbai-based listed firm Arkade Developers has signed a binding agreement to acquire the four-acre plot for Rs 183 crore from its current owners, in which it is planning to launch an uber-luxury project in 2026 that is slated to have a gross development value of around Rs 3,000 crore. Arkade said in a release that it is planning to build two 50 storied luxury towers at the project, featuring three, four, and five bedroom apartments.
"Filmistan Studios holds immense emotional and legacy significance for Mumbai, and we are privileged to be entrusted with shaping its next chapter. This development will go beyond being a premium address, and it will offer a thoughtfully curated lifestyle experience for a discerning few," said Amit Jain, chairman and managing director of Arkade Developers.
This is the third major film studio in recent years that has been sold to developers, with the most notable example being the RK Studios in Chembur, which has redeveloped into Godrej RKS by Godrej Properties. As a tribute to RK Studios, established by Raj Kapoor, Godrej Properties retained the original entrance to the project, complete with RK Studios' logo.
Similarly, Kamal Amrohi's Kamalistan Studios in Jogeshwari is also being redeveloped into a $750 million office-and-retail project by RMZ, with financial support from CPPIB, the Canadian pension fund.
Filmistan, a studio synonymous with Mumbai establishing dominance in the film industry in the 1940s and 1950s, emerged out of a falling out at another pioneering film studio, the Bombay Talkies in Malad, located in the immediate north of Goregaon.
Sashadhar Mukherjee, the grandfather of actor Kajol, along with his brother-in-law, the actor and producer Ashok Kumar, relocated to Goregaon to set up Filmistan Studios, where films were shot and were also fully produced from, including the soundtrack. Others joined from Bombay Talkies and elsewhere, which contributed to the decline of Bombay Talkies as a major film studio.
The studios gave music director SD Burman his first big break in Mumbai's film industry, and also provided a platform to directors such as Nasir Hussain, and to others who would go onto become prominent writers and filmmakers, such as Saadat Hasan Manto and Ritwik Ghatak. The music composer Madan Mohan was also associated with the studio, composing music for multiple films in the studio's stable, and his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was one of the co-founders of the studio.
The founders sold the studio space to the Jalan family, while retaining creative control of the films shot and produced from Filmistan. However, the Filmistan Studios, like the Bombay Talkies, went through its own upheaval in 1958 when Mukherjee left to start his own studio, Filmalaya, and Filmistan's film production activity reduced. It fully produced its last film in 1968, but the seven shooting floors and outdoor locations in the set were extensively rented by various filmmakers and production houses.
Nearly all prominent actors, from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, have worked at the studios over the past few decades, for their films, television appearances, or advertisements.
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