Filmistan Studio: Bollywood giants walked the floors of Mumbai’s iconic glory

After the production controller Rai Bahadur Chunilal passed away in 1951, the studio lost its regular din of shooting

MUMBAI: It was let to decay – rust adding up on its doors and railings, ceiling fans and iron cupboards. Land prices in Goregaon West have skyrocketed since 1943 when the sprawling Filmistan Studio, with seven shooting floors came up, where once the Sharda Movietone studio stood.

Mumbai, India - March 21, 2025: A view of Filmistan, a historic Indian film studio located in Goregaon, Mumbai, India, on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)(HT)

How the studio was built

History aggregating with its ‘parental’ Bombay Talkies, geographically separated by less than three kilometers. After the co-founder Himanshu Rai died in 1940, the emotional and intellectual proximity between Devika Rani, his wife, and producer Sasadhar Mukherjee widened. In 1943, Mukherjee left Bombay Talkies along with the production controller Rai Bahadur Chunilal (music composer Madan Mohan’s father), director Gyan Mukherjee and actor Ashok Kumar to set up a new banner -- Filmistan, on April 28, 1943. Just a year before, Mahatma Gandhi had given the Quit India call to the British, and WW-II was at its peak. In those times of turmoil, Bombay Talkies had produced a historic block-buster ‘Kismet’ directed by Gyan Mukherjee.

 

Filmistan studio.(HT)

At Filmistan, Gyan Mukherjee, opened his innings with ‘Chal chal re nau jawan’ (1944), starring Ashok Kumar and Naseem Banu (Saira Banu’s mother), and written by Sadaat Hasan Manto. Yesterday, standing outside Filmistan Studio with its gates closed, as it has been sold to a real estate developer, a memory gripped my mind – that of Guru Dutt, who considered Gyan Mukherjee his mentor. Yet another memory that struck me was that of Ritwik Ghatak, a giant of a Bengali filmmaker, who had joined Filmistan for a few months during the 1950s as story and screenplay writer. During that time, he had written his celebrated letter to the boss Sasadhar Mukherjee about introducing more experimental dynamism to the films produced by Filmistan. Ghatak then joined the Film Institute of India (later Film & Television Institute of India), Pune, as vice principal. I have visited this film studio several times before and remember a permanent set of a village with a Dattatray temple, a circular well, old houses, a sets-making workshop, etc. The temple has been shown in many Bollywood films. 

Filmistan Studio was set up in 1943. It rode the crest for decades, following which it gradually began to lose its sheen. MANOJ PATIL/ HINDUSTAN TIMES(HT)

After the production controller Rai Bahadur Chunilal passed away in 1951, the studio lost its regular din of shooting, when its new owner Tolaram Jalan took over the financial reins. It was rumoured he wanted to sell off the property way back in 2011. Mukherjee gradually lost interest in Filmistan and eventually separated from it in 1958 to set up his new banner – Filmalaya at Amboli, Andheri West. By then Filmistan had already produced some successful films including ‘Samadhi’ (1950) about Subhash Chandra Bose and his Azad Hind Fauj. Its marching song composed and sung by C Ramchandran, ‘Kadam badhaye ja’ still rents the skies on India’s Independence Day.

Memorable films

Filmistan gave several other memorable films such as ‘Anarkali’ (1953) and ‘Nagin’ (1954) both directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal. But soon a new Bollywood hero was to emerge from the Filmistan stable -- Shammi Kapoor, the industry’s early stylish playboy and dancer. With the film ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha’ (1957) Kapoor became a darling of the Indian youth. Its songs such as ‘Yun to hamne lakh hasin dekhen hai, tumsa nahin dekha’, composed by O P Nayyar, took them to a new high.

The Filmistan stable had such eminent directors as P L Santoshi, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Subodh Mukherjee, Kishore Sahu, Ramesh Sehgal, Nasir Hussain and Najam Naqvi and of course the co-founder Gyan Mukherjee, who introduced his brand of filmmaking, which was commonly known as the Gyan Mukherjee school.  

Sasadhar Mukherjee(HT archive)

The Filmistan stars were Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Nalini Jaywant, Kamini Kaushal and others. In the Filmistan film ‘Shabnam’ (1949), the pair of Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal was established. And with that film, the music composer S D Burman had also become well known. Other leading music composers belonging to Filmistan were C Ramchandra (Ramchandra Narahar Chittalkar), O P Nayyar, Anil Biswas and others. In ‘Nagin’, Hemant Kumar, emerged a household name as a music composer.

Gyan Mukherjee(HT archive)

Filmistan’s ‘Shehnai’ was initially released on August 15, 1947. Written and directed by P L Santoshi and songs (penned by Santoshi) composed by C Ramchandra became big a hit across the country. One of its songs, ‘Aana meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday’ had taken the newly independent nation by storm.

I have a personal anecdote to share from the film which created a newer musical environment. A nallah closer to the place where I live in Kandivli West, was once the pristine River Poinsur. Some residents in Kandivli village told me that many scenes and songs of films were shot in this river, as both Bombay Talkies and Filmistan were in the neighbourhood -- Malad and Goregaon, respectively. In my research, an old man remembered the words ‘Chhaiya’, not from Mani Ratnam’s ‘Dil Se’ but Filmistan’s ‘Shehnai’. I eventually managed to track down a worn-out CD of the film and there was ‘Chhuk chhuk chhaiya chhaiya…’ It was river Poinsur. Memories of Filmistan Studio cannot be erased ever.

(Amrit Gangar is a film scholar, curator and researcher.)