Sigh of Relief: RK studio’s iconic gate under restoration!

Back in August 2018, the Kapoor family had revealed that they will be selling R.K. Studios. The grand and iconic studio was by Raj Kapoor and was put for sale after a portion of the studio was gutted down in a fire that took place in 2017. 

The family had to make an upsetting decision and they sold off the 2.2-acre property. 

Talking about the same, Rishi Kapoor said “I am sad to see everything has been razed. However, the place will always hold a special place in our hearts because it’s been a part of our lives. It was my father’s legacy. When the studio got terribly damaged in that fire, we had to take a step back and think. Such decisions are not easy to arrive at. It was economically not viable for us to keep the studio, repair it and maintain it because we did not have many takers for the studio floors. The shoots have all moved to the Western suburbs. So, it only made sense to let RK Studios go. The gate, I’m told will stay as is and will continue to remind people of RK Studios. We will be thankful to the developers for that.”

While many fans shed tears for the decades-old iconic studio, Bollywood actors were also taken aback by the fact the RK studios will be no more. As the family mourns the loss of their gem, RK heroine Padmini Kolhapure, too, has a heavy heart. 

Talking about the now-demolished property, she said, “Today, so many memories attached to RK Studios are coming back to me. It’s sad that now whenever I pass Chembur, I won’t find the studio there, but in Raj uncle’s words, ‘The show must go on’. The memories will live on forever. I shot a lot of films there, so much so that I could call the studio my second home."

Reminiscing the good old days and she spoke at great length about the grandeur of the place. 

Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Prem Rog, Rahi Badal Gaye, Yeh Ishq Nahi Aasan are some of my films I vividly remember shooting for at RK Studios. I feel a stronger connection to the place because I was an RK Films’ heroine. We shot 30 per cent of Prem Rog in the studio at Chembur. We had set up massive sets for the songs. I can never forget those days when we filmed Mohabbat hai kya cheez and Yeh galiyan yeh chaubara there. I was virtually living there. Raj uncle would treat us to such amazing food, and their canteen was phenomenal, too. He would often open the theatre for me to watch some of his classics like Awara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955).

He loved the cinema and he wanted people to acquaint themselves with it. Raj uncle’s cottage (where he would sit and talk to us), his Holi parties, the recording rooms, the canteen — there's no corner of RK Studio that I don’t remember and that I won’t miss. Whenever I travelled to Pune, I made it a point to go past the RK Studios because I would bow before the Lord Shiva idol they have at the entrance. The studio formed a great part of the city’s legacy and I will miss it each time I pass the bend where it once stood.

- Padmini Kolhapure

Apart from that, in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam too urged the government to acquire the studio at the prevailing market rates and convert it into a full-fledged museum.