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Clicking since 1915: Delhi’s iconic Mahatta Studio shuts retail operation
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Mahatta & Co, a 101-year-old company located in M block, Connaught Place, is closing the shutters soon. Amar Nath Mehta, the founder of the company, started photographing in Srinagar. Kashmir was a popular destination for rich Englishmen and photography was their hobby. ‘Mehta’ rolled of their tongues as ‘Mahatta,’ a mispronunciation which rendered itself to the name of the brand today. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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A 1945 photograph of the Mahatta studio at Rawalpindi, which was one of the branches of the studio, which shut down post partition. Subsequently, a new branch opened at Delhi, (in the background). After all these years, the iconic ground floor address in Connaught Place will be history as the retail outlet is closed. (Ravi Choudhhary/HT PHOTO)
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Pavan Mehta poses next to an old nameplate of Mahatta & Co. Among the many historic events experienced by the studio was that of wartime rationing of film rolls in the 1940’s. An individual could only buy one roll of film, which was then loaded into their camera there and then, in order to prevent hoarding and black marketing. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo
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A collection of erstwhile posters, which remind of the film roll era of photography that preceded the present digital one. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Room of Negatives: This cache of films has photographs of several portraits of celebrities and other prominent personalities, architecture and industrial work, besides wedding photos. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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A portrait lies amid computers and other equipment in the studio. Mahatta studios were amongst the pioneers of colour photography in India. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)
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An old Kodak poster displayed at the Mahatta studios. The second generation family photographer Madan Mehta was gifted a Kodak Brownie at the age of 8 years. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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An official Kodak photographic supply certification accorded to the Mahattas. Moreover, they developed a reputation in towns close to Delhi for wedding photography and there became a saying: ‘If you want a marriage proposal to be successful , get the bride photographed at Mahatta’. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT PHOTO)
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Packaging Mahattas paraphernalia lies abandoned on the floor. After all these years, the iconic ground floor address in Connaught Place will remain no more as it closes its retail outlet. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT PHOTO)
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A worker shows a photo from the old times. (Ravi Choudhary/HT PHOTO)
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Pavan Mehta sits among the studio equipment placed on the mezzanine above his office cabin. Mahatta’s archive consist of ‘moustachioed military men in their uniformed regalia’ and ‘stylish, ethereal women dressed as per the fashion of the times’, as Pavan states in a book. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT PHOTO)
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