Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit has picked up a commercial unit in central Mumbai’s Lower Parel through a long-term lease of over five years with the total rental outgo estimated at Rs 2.81 crore.

The transaction, registered earlier this month, pertains to a commercial space in One Lodha Place, an office development in the micro-market. The leased unit has a carpet area of 731 sq ft and comes with one car parking slot.

The deal involved a stamp duty payment of Rs 72,600 and she, as a tenant, has also paid a security deposit of Rs 17 lakh at the time of the deal registration, showed the documents reviewed by Square Yards on the website of the Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Maharashtra.

The lease agreement is structured over 60 months, with a 5% annual escalation. The monthly rent rises from Rs 4.25 lakh in the first year to Rs 4.46 lakh in the second, Rs 4.68 lakh in the third, Rs 4.91 lakh in the fourth, and Rs 5.16 lakh in the fifth year.

In October 2022, she had purchased a sea-view luxury apartment in a super-premium residential project on Dr. E Moses Road in neighbouring plush Worli locality. The apartment spread over 5,384 sq ft on the 53rd habitable floor with views of Arabian Sea and the Mahalaxmi Racecourse ranked among the top deals of that year.

ET’s email query and calls to the Dixit-Nene family remained unanswered.

Lower Parel-Worli has emerged as one of Mumbai’s key commercial and residential hubs, driven by the redevelopment of erstwhile mill land into premium office spaces, luxury residences and mixed-use developments.

The micro market’s proximity to major business districts including Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Nariman Point, along with strong connectivity through arterial roads and suburban rail, continues to support demand.

Lower Parel also houses prominent commercial and retail destinations such as High Street Phoenix and Palladium Mall, reinforcing its positioning as a high-demand urban business district.

They moved into the 8-bedroom apartment 3 months ago, in the midst of the pandemic
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 29, 2020)

Three months ago, in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, Neil Nitin Mukesh moved into his new home in Lower Parel, an eight-bedroom apartment his father Nitin Mukesh and he had invested in long ago. “It was a long-pending dream for the Mukesh family,” reveals the actor, adding that they got possession only last year. “Till then, I lived in Andheri while my father stayed put in our ancestral home on Nepean Sea Road. We were wondering whether to rent this one out or move in together. After five years of staying separately, we had got comfortable living on our own. But I didn’t want my parents to miss out on my daughter Nurvi’s growing-up years. So, in June, we decided we’d live together as a family again.”

The actor admits that it was difficult convincing his papa to get out of one house, sit in a car and move to another. The doctors, too, were sceptical about Nurvi and him being close, given that at not-yet-two and 70, they were the most susceptible to the Coronavirus. “To ensure that everyone was safe, we completed Nurvi’s round of vaccination, kept her isolated at home for 14 days, before moving into the new flat,” informs Neil, admitting that the shift required lots of planning as they had to inform the housing societies, stock provisions, including his father’s medication, but at the same time carry along only what was absolutely necessary. “I brought only three Tees and three boxers, a pair of jeans and a jacket for myself.”

The initial plan was to just move in for two days to bring in his father’s 70th birthday on June 27. “It’s been three months and when I told papa recently that I’ll be resuming work soon and asked when we should plan to return to our own homes, he said that he wants us to stay together till the year end,” Neil smiles, elated to see his wife Rukmini and his mother together and his father looking after Nurvi. “My daughter keeps both my parents on their toes, this feeling is absolutely priceless!”

With the family together, Ganpati celebrations are also more fun with Nurvi as the in-house pandit and an eco-friendly 18-inch idol instead of the usual five-feet one. “We have taken permission to drain the water after visarjan in our garden downstairs. The decorations are from the previous year’s celebrations, Nurvi and I put them up together. All the decorative clothes have been handstitched by my mother,” relays Neil, who has a degree in art and used it to good effect to apply henna on his wife’s hands since they couldn’t call a professional this year. “Mom liked the design so much I had to apply henna for her too.”

The actor also clears speculations around a digital debut. “That’s not happening. But I start shooting for a feature film; a thriller, by September end. I have a new look and have been given around 40 days to prep,” he signs off.

With Akshay Kumar's character shown as Mumbai cop, Sooryavanshi director Rohit Shetty discusses how local police helped him shoot at iconic locations in the city
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; March 4, 2020)

After giving Bollywood formidable cop heroes in Bajirao Singham and Sangram Bhalerao aka Simmba, filmmaker Rohit Shetty has gone bigger and better with his next, Sooryavanshi. The cop thriller sees Akshay Kumar at the helm of affairs as Anti-Terrorist squad chief DCP Veer Sooryavanshi.

While Shetty has been vocal about how he loves shooting in Goa — he had set the stories of both Singham and Simmba in the state — the script of Sooryavanshi required him to film extensively in Mumbai. No stranger to the woes of shooting at live locations, the director says Mumbai police made it possible to film at landmark venues like the Lower Parel flyover and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

"We were shooting at night at the Lower Parel bridge. I wanted a beautiful shot of the police convoy on the flyover, but [it's usually bustling with traffic]," recounts Shetty, adding that after the unit secured the requisite permission from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the cops cordoned off the area for the shoot. "It was amazing to see how the cops managed the crowd that had gathered there. It's a crowded area, and if they hadn't been with us, it would have been impossible for us to shoot."

One might believe he has become well-versed with the world of khaki-clad heroes after helming three cop capers. But Shetty says he closely interacts with cops while developing the script to ensure there are no glaring errors in the representation of police procedure. "Before shooting for Sooryavanshi, we met some cops. They helped us determine the uniforms that each character would wear [corresponding to their designation], or the process that ATS follows [before an arrest]. They helped us with the research, following which we took it forward and fictionalised it."

From gorging on bok choy dishes to prepping for eight hours, and quiet dinner with Jacqueline, here’s the low-down on Katy Perry’s Mumbai stay
Mohar Basu and Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; November 15, 2019)

Three days into her stay in Mumbai, it has been all about work for Katy Perry. Although stationed at the St Regis in Lower Parel, the pop queen has been making trips to the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to prep for her Saturday gig. mid-day has learnt that special arrangements have been made at the five-star — an entire floor has been cordoned off for her and her team, with designated staff members assigned to Perry’s duty. “She usually orders in her breakfast, comprising oat milk and something light to go with it. The kitchen has been getting requests for Asian vegetarian fare, especially dishes made with bok choy, which she enjoys gorging on. She is spending a large part of her day prepping for the concert,” reveals the source.

The roar hitmaker, whose music has several ardent admirers in B-Town, has already got a taste of Bollywood hospitality. We hear Jacqueline Fernandez visited her on Wednesday for an all-girls’ dinner. “They enjoyed a meal at the hotel’s Japanese restaurant, Yuuka, which was booked for them. The two spent an hour together.”

Fernandez, who is playing host to the musician, tells mid-day how she was fascinated by Perry’s knowledge of Indian music. “She was well aware of who Amit [Trivedi] was, her knowledge of music expands across the globe. It will be a different experience to see them live. When I first met her, despite being jet-lagged, she was full of energy. I told her how some of her songs have got me through [hard] times in my life.”

Meanwhile, prep is on in full swing at Karan Johar’s Khar residence for tonight’s big bash. The party will be attended by the who’s who of the industry, including Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, among others.

Sharmila Ganesan-Ram | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; March 9, 2014)

One of the 500 new, red chairs at Lower Parel’s Deepak Talkies is baring its yellow flesh. There is a clean, surgical cut down its middle, a stab Punit Shah felt in his gut when he realised the culprits were two teenagers. They had left the movie hall midway, hands quaking, not out of guilt so much as, perhaps, drug use. It was to deter this very profile of patrons that Shah spent the last nine months sterilising his grandfather’s cinema with air-conditioners, toilet cleaners, recliners, RTIs and other cleansers that together cost him almost as much as a multiplex. His labour pains, however, are yet to fully pay off.

On Valentine’s Day this year, 85-year-old Deepak— one of the oldest cinemas in Mumbai—reopened after nine months, in a new avatar. In place of shutters that would let in a row of rickshaw drivers, construction workers and others for as low as Rs 30, it now boasts two huge black gates that open only slightly and tentatively for those who can pay at least Rs 110. On the gates is a set of rules and the picture of the new, red, reclining, cushioned chair. Inside, there are uniformed security guards who ask for your name in English, toilets with self-locking doors, popcorn that comes from Argentina and high-end amplifiers that make Shah’s office floor shudder every time there’s a thud in the movie.

“I want Deepak to cater to the elite class,” says Punit, the third-generation owner of the theatre that was started by Kutchi land-owner Tokershi Jivraj Ganji in 1926. Besides sentiment, it was partly a 1981 law that says that even if the owner of a cinema theatre revamps it, he can only use it for the purpose of a cinema— that prompted Punit to refurbish the theatre. “I want to offer people a Prithvi theatre-like ambience where they can come in and play the guitar,” says the 30-year-old, who has been careful to hold on to the colonial structure and its various welcoming elements— the long, roofed walk-in, ornate lamps, elegant benches, and most importantly, two huge white stone elephants that stand facing each other, a bit like the logo of this paper.

These are reminders of Deepak’s inception as a circus venue. In the 1920s, the two rear entrances of this cinema would see lions and tigers from the Byculla zoo. Then, when the cinema projector arrived, films were screened chiefly for workers from nearby mills. As mills closed, crowds thinned. The cinema— that has seen everyone from actors Salman Khan to Govinda walk down its porch— soon became what theatre managers used to call “a shifting theatre”. This means that some films would release here only after finishing their run elsewhere, “just to show a silver jubilee run”.

“The ladies’ toilets previously had open latrines, like the gents’,” recalls Punit’s wife, Mansi, amused. “Besides, the doors wouldn’t close so there were people peeping in.” An interior decorator, she took on the onus of redesigning the insides of this family heirloom. It wasn’t easy. “When we broke the POP ceiling of the auditorium, I could see the sky,” recalls Mansi. Nine months later, the theatre now has classy toilets with mirrors, a high-defintion screen, twelve amplifiers (in place of five) and a 2K digital projector. “Basically you will find everything that you find at a multiplex, at subsidized prices,” says Punit.

Few days into reopening, however, it still had the aura of a circus venue. Punit had to deal with the wrath of its erstwhile patrons. Some protested its new richness by breaking its glass box office window while others avenged the loss of affordable entertainment by watching films here. “Local goons would bring tobacco packs and cigarettes inside,” says Punit, one eye on the office TV which plays footage from nine CCTV cameras.

These teething troubles, thankfully, are now over. Corporates have now been requesting him to lend his space for seminars. Some of them promised group bookings for certain Hindi and English films. Last Sunday, a group of 60 Maharashtrian women turned up with their families to watch the Marathi film Fandry. “Their kids even pulled the elephant’s tail,” recalls Mansi. The Shahs are now planning to introduce a ladder so kids can mount the elephants. Just like circus artists once used to.