Bungalow shortage for Bollywood stars in Mumbai
8:00 AM
Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; December 9, 2013)
There was a time when it was unimaginable if you were a Bollywood superstar and didn’t have a bungalow in Mumbai, the city of every film aspirant’s dream.
Even when Amitabh Bachchan slept on a bench once, he aspired to be an actor and own a bungalow here; as did Shah Rukh Khan when he moved from New Delhi. Both these megastars struck gold. While Bachchan’s Prateeksha is still a landmark in Mumbai, SRK’s Mannat, with its unending view of the Arabian Sea, is the most envied address among film folk and even beyond.
However, Mumbai, whose landscape now resembles Shanghai, is growing vertically and with each passing day, the bungalows are fast disappearing into the metamorphosing skyline.
On last count, Pali Hill, at one point considered to be the city’s answer to Beverly Hills, had just around 11 bungalows. And, not all of these belonged to film people. While Pali Hill was once dotted with bungalows belonging to Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar, all these thespians’ addresses stand demolished now. There are high-rises in place of each of these iconic star-homes, with the actors or their kin occupying a few floors in the edifices that have come up.
And, guess who is lamenting the loss of these bungalows the most — the existing lot of stars themselves. Kareena Kapoor Khan and her husband Saif Ali Khan have bought four floors in a Bandra building, but Bebo admits, “Saif and I would have loved to build or buy a bungalow. We even looked for one before we settled on our current address. However, there aren’t bungalows that met with our taste.”
Priyanka Chopra wants a sea-facing bungalow in the stretch between Bandra and Juhu. She has been house-hunting for the longest time, but in vain. Katrina Kaif too wants one for herself. But she has been unsuccessful in finding an appropriate property.
Sonakshi Sinha fails to understand why her parents demolished their bungalow Ramayan to convert it into a tall building. On the other hand, Sonam Kapoor is happy that her father Anil Kapoor is not tempted to raze their bungalow to the ground and bring in a highrise instead, at least just as yet.
Salman Khan has reportedly acquired a huge property in the suburbs. Whether he will build a bungalow on it or a tower, is a talking point.
STARS DESPERATELY SEEKING BUNGALOWS Aamir Khan
Katrina Kaif
Priyanka Chopra
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena
There was a time when it was unimaginable if you were a Bollywood superstar and didn’t have a bungalow in Mumbai, the city of every film aspirant’s dream.
Even when Amitabh Bachchan slept on a bench once, he aspired to be an actor and own a bungalow here; as did Shah Rukh Khan when he moved from New Delhi. Both these megastars struck gold. While Bachchan’s Prateeksha is still a landmark in Mumbai, SRK’s Mannat, with its unending view of the Arabian Sea, is the most envied address among film folk and even beyond.
However, Mumbai, whose landscape now resembles Shanghai, is growing vertically and with each passing day, the bungalows are fast disappearing into the metamorphosing skyline.
On last count, Pali Hill, at one point considered to be the city’s answer to Beverly Hills, had just around 11 bungalows. And, not all of these belonged to film people. While Pali Hill was once dotted with bungalows belonging to Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar, all these thespians’ addresses stand demolished now. There are high-rises in place of each of these iconic star-homes, with the actors or their kin occupying a few floors in the edifices that have come up.
And, guess who is lamenting the loss of these bungalows the most — the existing lot of stars themselves. Kareena Kapoor Khan and her husband Saif Ali Khan have bought four floors in a Bandra building, but Bebo admits, “Saif and I would have loved to build or buy a bungalow. We even looked for one before we settled on our current address. However, there aren’t bungalows that met with our taste.”
Priyanka Chopra wants a sea-facing bungalow in the stretch between Bandra and Juhu. She has been house-hunting for the longest time, but in vain. Katrina Kaif too wants one for herself. But she has been unsuccessful in finding an appropriate property.
Sonakshi Sinha fails to understand why her parents demolished their bungalow Ramayan to convert it into a tall building. On the other hand, Sonam Kapoor is happy that her father Anil Kapoor is not tempted to raze their bungalow to the ground and bring in a highrise instead, at least just as yet.
Salman Khan has reportedly acquired a huge property in the suburbs. Whether he will build a bungalow on it or a tower, is a talking point.
STARS DESPERATELY SEEKING BUNGALOWS Aamir Khan
Katrina Kaif
Priyanka Chopra
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena
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