Great-granddaughter of Vaman Shridhar Apte, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s new book Tatyasaheb is a salute to the legacy of her illustrious ancestor who played a key role in Mumbai’s textile and cinematic histories. Excerpts from an interview
Portraits of Tatya and his wife (left) Kaku on the armchairs are referred to in the introduction of the book
Why is Tatyasaheb’s legacy important to early Bombay’s textile history?
Tatya made his fortune as the sole selling agent of Kohinoor Mills. His story in Tatyasaheb (Westland) illuminates the larger story of how the textile industry was central to generating the wealth of the city. We see how the wider political context impacted him and other players in the textile industry, such as the boom years of the First World War, or the Swadeshi Movement. By the early 20th century, Bombay’s mills accounted for 50 per cent of the spinning and weaving capacity of India. So, it was a dynamic industry that profoundly shaped the city; in many ways, researching Tatya’s story was like diving into the origin story of the city.
What lessons from Tatyasaheb’s early struggles helped his rise to being a leader and entrepreneur?
He learned resilience at an early age — as a child his education was continually disrupted, prompting him to leave school and work as an assistant to a cloth merchant in Mulji Jetha (MJ) Market. These were hard years. Sharing a room in a chawl, he would walk to work to save money for beedis. His early attempt at setting up his own business crumbled during the outbreak of bubonic plague in the city in 1896 when half the city’s population ran away. But he decided to try yet again, and set up his own shop as a selling agent in MJ Market. After that there was no looking back, but these struggles would have taught him the value of persisting against the odds.
Tatya’s grandchildren, along with his daughter-in-law Manorama. Pics/Tejaswini Apte-Rahm
How much of the city’s resilience inspired him? Based on your research, did he mention any other factors from Bombay/Mumbai that stirred his spirit?
Tatya never talked about the resilience inherent to the city, but it is clear that he lived it. He had a strong spirit of entrepreneurship and a remarkable appetite for risk, which was an inherent part of his personality. With the stability of his core textile business to back him, he kept diversifying into completely different and nascent industries like silent films and sugar, taking the risks that are part and parcel of being a pioneer in a new industry. As an orthodox Kokanastha Brahmin, he was an oddity in the world of business, the sole Marathi businessman in the Gujarati bastion of MJ Market, and he developed a great respect for the entrepreneurship of the Gujarati community.
What prompted him to enter the world of silent film production?
It was by accident that he fell into the silent film business. He was in a meeting with some textile business associates, when he was handed a letter recommending financial support to one Dadasaheb Phalke for filmmaking. The recommendation was from none other than Lokmanya Tilak. Tatya and his associates held Tilak in such high regard that they immediately agreed to finance Phalke despite knowing nothing about films. They founded the Hindustan Film Company for the purpose — Tatya went on to produce about 100 silent feature films over 16 years, of which around 40 were directed by Phalke.
Tejaswini Apte Rahm
How would you like history books to remember Tatyasaheb?
I’d like him to be remembered as an ordinary man who started with almost nothing, wasn’t afraid to invest in businesses where he was an outsider, and who built his reputation on being an ethical operator — for example he refused to participate in the black market for cloth during both World Wars. I also love the fact that he never forgot where he came from — his most enduring friendships remained the ones he had made in the chawl during the early days of struggle.
As the descendant of an icon, was there any pressure as you chronicled Tatyasaheb’s life in a book?
It would have been easy to slip into writing a hagiography, but the point of writing this book was not to glorify him. I set out to understand his life and times with all its ups and downs. So, I have tried to look at Tatya’s life as a historical researcher, and not just as a great-granddaughter. If there was any pressure, it was to try and live up to his work ethic by working hard, and staying true to the purpose of this project.
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