Landmark Filmistan Studio to make way for ultra-luxe residences

The company now plans to construct around 400 ultra-luxury apartments that are likely to be sold for around ₹40,000 per square foot

MUMBAI: One of Bollywood’s landmark studios, the Filmistan Studio in Goregaon West, will be razed by December, as a long-pending deal to ease this space for two 50-storey ultra-luxury residential apartments was inked on Thursday.

(Hindustan Times)

The Jalan family, members of who own the studio properties, transferred their rights to Arkade Developers, for ₹183 crores, on Thursday. HT was unable to ascertain the names of the Jalans who own the properties, but for the fact that filmmaker Sasadhar Mukherjee, who built the studio in 1943, eventually sold it to one Tolaram Jalan, a film financier from Kolkata.

Earlier, a separate deal was inked in January between Arkade Developers and Aspen Properties, along with its joint venture partner Kamanwala Housing Construction, to acquire the prime four-acre land parcel, excluding the structures on the land. That transaction was made at ₹165 crore.

The composite deal of the land and the studios work out to be ₹348 crore.

“A homebuyer will not get anything like this,” Amit Jain, chairman and managing director of Arkade Developers, told Hindustan Times, adding that applications for approval to construct will be put up before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation soon, and permissions expected by the end of the year. The super luxe residences, spread over a construction area of eight lakh square feet, will subsequently be launched in the early months of 2026.

Some of the top grossing movies of the 1940s and ’50s were shot here – among the popular ones are ‘Paying Guest’ (1957), starring Dev Anand, ‘Nastik’ (1954) directed by I S Johar, the romance saga ‘Anarkali’ (1953); and more recently, ‘2 States’ (2014), among others. The studio was also the launchpad for noted writer Saadat Hasan Manto.

Lately, reality shows have been filmed here.

There was a time in the ’70 when it was de rigueur to film in the outdoors, and it seemed studios would perish. The wise owners then created a police station, a jail, a village and garden as permanent fixtures for filming. Eventually, make-up rooms were renovated and two stages were air conditioned.

While Mumbai will lose one of its significant landmarks, the name – Filmistan – is likely to be retained, said people in the know of things.