Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 2, 2014)

Indian cinema lost some of its greatest milestones forever to a fire which broke out at the Borivli office of the legendary film studio, The Bombay Talkies Limited, on Thursday.

Mirror has it, masterprints of around 60 films were reduced to ashes. These included Jeevan Naiya (Ashok Kumar's debut film), Achhut Kanya (Ashok Kumar's first hit), Neel Kamal (Raj Kapoor's first big break), Jwar Bhata (Dilip Kumar's debut film), Ziddi (which launched Dev Anand's career as a leading man), Andolan (Kishore Kumar's first film as a hero), Bandhan and Jhoola (two of Ashok Kumar's biggest hits).

Founded in 1934, the studio, which produced 102 feature films and was the launching pad for some of Hindi cinema's biggest stars, was the country's first public limited film company.

Rajnarayan Dube known as the 'Pillar of Indian Cinema', financed all the films produced by the company. Now, his grandson Abhay Kumar, is reviving the banner along with Johnny Walker's son Nasirr.

When contacted, Abhay told Mirror, "It took around 45 minutes to douse the flames. The fire was set off by a short circuit. I was in Delhi when it happened. I returned to Mumbai only on Monday morning. If I had been here, may be I could have minimised the damage. I am shocked beyond words. I have lost my treasure trove. Fate can be so cruel at times." 
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Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; July 2, 2014)

On Thursday night, a fire gutted one of the floors of Bombay Talkies film studio. Says a source, “A fire broke in the building’s basement. As a result, a lot of valuable documents pertaining to Indian cinema were reduced to ashes.” Bombay Talkies is a studio of historical significance as it has witnessed the making of pathbreaking films in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Established by Himanshu Rai in 1934, the studio shut down in 1954.

According to a few people present at the spot, there was a short circuit in the basement after which a major fire broke out. Fortunately, no casualties were reported. “It is being said that around 650 negatives, 102 film reels, as also several photos, agreements and records were lost in the fire,” says a source.

Abhay Kumar, grandson of Ashok Kumar, confirmed the news. “Many documents, including letters from Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore and other personalities were lost in the fire. We can’t blame anyone for this ill-fated incident,” he said.