Bombay might have become Mumbai, while the rest of India has been in constant churn; yet, our connection with films remains intact. Celebrating the celluloid screen, talks of the Museum of Indian Cinema had been buzzing for a while. Now, that it is all up and shining, we entered into a wonderland that lets all age groups gaze at the images, give playback to golden jubilee stars like Rajinder Kumar and Dev Anand, and re-imagine the tableaux from the film, Raja Harishchandra by father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke, cast in marble prodding the audience to revisit the 20th century.

A complete film set is recreated with lights, camera and sound equipment in order to give a feel  of the shooting.

Cine call
“The idea is to discover and be filled with wonder irrespective of age when you walk into the museum,” informs film historian Amrit Gangar who has been arduously putting memorabilia, old cameras, artefacts for the past one year, in tandem with the National Council of Science Museum, Kolkata. Gulshan Mahal, the 19th century bungalow — an evacuee property of Peerbhoy Khalakdina who belonged to the Khoja family from Kutch — covers 6,000-sq feet within the Films Division grounds. After serving as a hospital to Jai Hind College, the nine-room bungalow has been restored to its original grandeur by the National Building Construction Corporation.