Mid-Day Anniversary Special | `Came to Mumbai for a job`: Artist Ranjiet Dahiya reveals how he started painting larger-than-life wall murals in the city

Ranjiet Dahiya, founder, Bollywood Art Project

Ranjiet Dahiya, the artist behind the larger-than-life Bollywood wall murals across the city, is somewhat of a celebrity himself in Bandra. “Hey, Ranjiet man, how are you?” asked every other person that we passed during a guided walkthrough of his murals. The bigger surprise is that the man — sporting a floral beach shirt, bermuda shorts, possibly his brightest white sneakers and a salt-and-pepper mullet is not a Bandra boy. “Haryana se hoon,” he confirmed in a distinctly Bambaiya accent. 

His past and present works tell the story of the impact of the industry on Mumbai. Pic Courtesy/Bollywood Art Project

We were marvelling at a wall mural opposite Duke Restaurant on Chapel Road in Bandra. Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman and Helen, all painted by Dahiya are staring back at us from the 30 ft-tall mural. We’re 13 years too late to catch a glimpse of Anarkali, the first mural he painted in Mumbai on the same wall. “That was 2012. I came to Mumbai chasing a regular job. I quickly realised it wasn’t my true calling. Around the same time, I realised that for a city that breathes Bollywood, there were no visual tributes for the public to see,” he revealed.

As ironic as it might have been to paint Anarkali on a brick wall, it gave the artist memories that he still holds dear. “An elderly woman stopped by while I was painting with my team. I assumed she had a bone to pick with us. Surprisingly, she struck up a conversation about how our mural reminded her of the first time she watched a movie with her husband in a theatre; it was Mughal-e-Azam,” Dahiya smiled as he remembered.

Sure enough, in this city that evolves with every passing day, the mural didn’t stand the test of time. In 2021, another group of mural artists eyed the same spot, and painted a tribute to football icon Lionel Messi. “It wasn’t great-looking, to be frank. It riled up quite a few locals who loved Anarkali. In the same year, I painted over it again; this time with the three Bollywood divas you see now,” he shared.  

The many tourists and local explorers who flock to these lanes and invariably pose for a picture with the cine stars aren’t his only fans, we learn. “A few days after I finished the mural of the trio, I got a call late at night from a longtime resident. 

‘Ranjiet, Helen is here! Come over right now!’ he told me,” Dahiya told us. The dance icon still had the same spring in her step, it seemed. Before Dahiya could walk down a few blocks from his office, she had wrapped up a quick photo session and left.

Ever since, Dahiya has found his muse in many more city icons. From a larger-than-life mural of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar near Mount Mary and a poster-style tribute to Madhubala in the USA, to his most recent tribute to Raj Kapoor on his birth centenary, the artist has a robust body of work today. Most recently, actor Anil Kapoor invited the artist over for tea with a proposal to paint a mural of Mr India.

We nudged Dahiya about the changing face of Mumbai, with smaller houses and accessible walls giving way to gated colonies. “Well, that just means we’ll have to find a way to paint these taller buildings,” he laughed, adding, “I wouldn’t want to do this in any other city but Mumbai.” In other words, picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost. 

2012
The first mural he painted