Bollywood Gallery # 15 - Page 2

W aheeda Rehman was at Sea Belle, a lovely sea-facing building on Nepean Sea Road. She lived there with her sister.. and moved out on marrying actor Kamaljeet. Saira Banu had an apartment in Sea Belle, too, but it was too tiny for her mum Naseem Bano, grandma and her brother's extended family. She was one of the first to shift to Pali Hill, Bandra, providentially to a bungalow, at a pebble's throw away from Dilip Kumar's home which he shared with his brother. Shyama was in Gulmarg, close to Sea Belle..but is said to have shifted to the suburbs. Randhir Kapoor and Babita were at in the sprawling Petit Hall skyscraper, far away from the eyes of the Kapoor khaandan in Chem- bur. When their marriage was in trouble, he shifted to the R K Cot- tage and Babita was one of the ear- ly Lokhandwallis, with a barely grown-up Karisma and still to reach her teens Kareena. Die hards Shashi Kapoor lingered on at Atlas apartments on Harkness Road, the prettiest stretch of Mal- abar Hill. But after Jennifer Kendall passed away, he sorely missed his wife.. he continued to live at Atlas with son Kunal and his family..but has now shift- ed to a skyscraper adjoining Prithvi theatre. Nutan was at Anita building on Mount Pleasant Road, and com- muted often to her farmhouse in Chembur.. she eventually shifted to Colaba with her family. Manmohan Desai was never comfortable in his garden flat at Matru Ashish, wanted to shift back to his Khetwadi home.. and did. Jackie Shroff adored his kholi on Teen Batti.. but of course upscaled to Bandra's Mount Mary neighbourhood. He still talks of the kholi-peeli days. Yash Johar.. with a bouncy school-going son Karan were at the Acropolis, close to Hanging Garden, but moved to Bandra. Last of the Mohicans Today, there are but a few star names left on Malabar Hill but if you ask me, they don't seem to belong anywhere else. In fact, it would be odd to see if they packed their suitcases to head for the suburbs - from Juhu and Lokhandwala, the scenario has also shifted to Goregaon and Malad (note Hema Malini's move to Goregaon) for larger space, the much-longed-for greenery and of course, a measure of privacy. In my reporting career, I've par- taken of the Malabar Hill ambi- ence down the years. And it's plain that Simi Garewal would be so uprooted if she shifted from her terrace apartment in the discreet Pavlova building, in a twisting lane on Little Gibb's Road. The apartment is tastefully fur- nished - in particular the silver bric-a-brac - and is dominated by a black-and-white blow-up of Ms Garewal in her glory days.. not that she has changed much.. except the shampooed tresses are now excised to a stylish short twist. Of the Malabar Hillaikars, Simi suggests a passage of time in a positive way. So does Shammi Kapoor, ageless in his gizmo room, tinkering away on internet. Neither Simi nor Shammi Kapoor are to be seen at the shops or at the Hanging Garden or Priyardarshini Park. The yahoo sir has become some- what reclusive and Ms Garewal is no doubt, harrying off to interview a Laxmi Mittal or a Jackie Chan. From father to son It's comforting to know that after Premnath's passing away years ago, his son Prem Kishen has managed to keep his mother, the ethereal Bina Rai, and his family, in the family home - at Anita building. Veteran Kamini Kaushal is also a sprightly figure is in the same building. Vinod Khanna, once on the more congested Gowalia Tank, became a Malabar Hill man with success and marriage. Then the self-imposed Osho exile and he returned home but as a single man, who had to live at the WIAA club before acquiring a flat. He did at Il Palazzo, which is also the cur- rent high-profile address of Kumarmangalam Birla. Khanna's sons - Akshaye and Rahul - live with the mother at Sunita building.. and both are so townie that it would seem that they need visas to get to the far- flung studios. Rahul, as the world knows, is the more companionable sort and will hang out at the WIAA, while Akshaye conveys the impression of the monk who rarely comes out to play. The legendary Sea Belle is now home to the TV star couple Ram and Gautami Kapoor. Once a Juhu-ite, Ram has gone in reverse gear - perhaps because the old- worldly spacious apartment out- weighs the every day chore of commuting to the Balaji Tele- films studios. So, why am I being so nostalgic about the stars who've gone away and those who have stayed. Simply because, like the older movies, there was something special about bumping into a movie star at the spot which is still called "Petrol Pump" - although it doesn't have one anymore. Today, music composer Vanraj Bhatia jogs all over Priyardarshi- ni Park. Hopefully after a few years, it'll be Akshaye Khanna, a Malabar Hill boy and proud to be one. Also on the hill Adi Godrej Jamshed Godrej Kumaramangalam Birla His Holyness Syedna Buhranuddin Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Vilasrao Deshmukh Anand Mahindra Bharat Shah Zakir Hussain Vijay Mallya Yash Birla Cyrus Broacha Jeh Wadia