05 October,2025 09:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Debjani Paul
The benches have been replaced with tables and armchairs encircling the room, leaning into the “living room” vibe at the cafe. Pics/Satej Shinde
It might've happened to you; it definitely happened to us. The first time we'd gone to Method Bandra a few years ago, we'd entered it expecting a full-fledged art gallery like the one at Kala Ghoda and instead found an art cafe. Over the years, the Bandra outpost has grown into a well-loved community space known for good coffee, a chill vibe, and a buzzing art and social scene (from music performances to mixers to calls to action, like fundraisers for those displaced in the Gaza strife). Six years since its launch, the gallery/cafe confusion persisted though.
Not anymore.
Last month, Method Bandra shut its doors one final time. Don't worry, the art cafe lives on - it's far too precious to both founder-curator Sahil Arora and the band of regulars for whom it has become a second home.
After a brief hiatus for renovations, it reopened last fortnight in a new-ish avatar, as Haiku. "We have decided to rebrand this outpost that is "more than a cafe" to avoid confusion between our art galleries located in Kala Ghoda and Delhi," says Arora, "All too often people wind up at either gallery looking for coffee, or at the cafe looking for a more expansive art space. The name change is just a demarcation between the two."
The spirit of the Bandra space will remain the same, vows Arora. If anything, the renovated interiors reflect it even more. The benches that once lined the walls have been replaced with tables and armchairs encircling the room, leaning into the "living room" vibe at the cafe. There's someone nursing their coffee while working on their laptop, another person takes a break from scrolling on their phone to jump into a conversation with a third person at another table - it feels exactly like lounging in someone's drawing room, with everyone free to do their own thing, and tune in or out of conversations spanning across the room.
Bharath Purohit, producer-founder of Bratman Films, has been part of these conversations every day since 2022. "I come here to work and chill. This is a place for all the misfits, all the people from media, art, and music come together here. We hang out, and sometimes end up working with each other, like Sameer here got a project from someone he met here," he says, pointing across the room at Sameer Kulkarni, who runs his own interior design studio, Sameer Kulkarni Design.
Kulkarni, who lives five minutes away, quips, "I'm here more often than Sahil, I come for at least an hour every day. There's a comfort here; it's like my second home."
At another table, Ashwini Kulkarni, who heads dubbing at Netflix's India operation and is also Kulkarni's wife, tells us how she cast a voice artiste in a show after hearing their song play in the cafe. "Anyone can connect to the cafe's speakers; we take turns playing music that we want to listen to. One day, the artiste played their own song. I liked it and ended up casting them," she recalls.
These serendipitous encounters with other creative folks is a large part of the charm of Haiku. And unlike the membership-only clubs that offer similar creative networks in exchange for lakhs, all it costs here is a cup of coffee. Haiku has a membership programme too, but it's not mandatory, and is only designed to reduce the burden on your wallet. For R3600 a month, membership promises a cup of coffee every day; the banter is free. For the regulars, it's the combination of both that makes this their daily stop. There's an outpouring of appreciation for the baristas - Jeetu, Aakash, Sonam, Gopal - from the regulars.
"I like the ease of this place. Walking into this place, you'll always see a smiling face at the counter. The coffee is amazing. We started coming for that and then started joining the community events too," says Ashwini, "The community dinners are really fun; we get to meet a lot of new people outside of the regulars."
Writer-singer Swanand Kirkire, too, is a regular fixture at the café, and can often be spotted working with a coffee by his laptop. "It's one of those few places where you can get your coffee and also work or chat with other people. There's no rush to take your coffee and clear out. I also appreciate the social causes
they support - I was here for the event held I support of Palestine [earlier this year]. I also enjoy the art exhibitions."
While the pressure of changing the exhibits every month is now off their shoulders, Arora says art will very much remain an element at Haiku. "There will also be curated art here, just without the pressure of changing it every four to six weeks. It'll draw more from my personal taste, since we already have the galleries for wider curation," he says.
Every month, the café will also collaborate with an artist to create art on the lightbox marking the entrance. The artist of the month is Kunel Gaur.
Before we begin our day, we take a breather in the outside seating area, sipping on a first-class cup of coffee. In an utterly magical moment, a butterfly glides in and floats around our head, flutters about the foliage, and then returns to sit on our arm. Once again it makes us think, "This is a place where anything can happen".
