Royal Opera House (Mumbai)

Ownership

Inaugurated in 1912, the Opera House was acquired in 1952 by Maharaja Bhojrajsingh of Gondal. The Maharaja took the property on a 999-year lease and attempted to run it as a self-sustaining commercial enterprise.

History

The Royal Opera House was conceived in 1908 by Maurice Bandmann, a famous entertainer from Calcutta, and Jehangir Framji Karaka, who headed a coal brokers’ firm. A baroque design incorporating a blend of European and Indian detailing was chosen for the structure. A long frontage was created to let carriages drive up to the entrance. Twenty-six rows of boxes behind the stalls were put up for the best view of the stage. The ceiling was constructed to enable even those in the gallery to hear every word uttered by the performers.

Initially, the opera house was used strictly for staging operas, and catered almost exclusively to the city's elite – a globalised layer of Indians, British officials, a few Europeans. After the first world war, times and tastes changed and it became difficult to maintain and run the opera house, a sumptuous building, on the income from the opera alone. Also, with the coming of "talkie" movies in the early 1930s, the popularity of cinema increased. In 1935, the opera house was modified to accommodate movie screenings and fashion shows.

1980s and closure in 1991

Single-theatre cinemas took a downturn in the 1980s, and as a result the opera house ran in loss. In the 1980s the opera house was closed down. In January 1991, the opera house hosted its last film show. In 1993 the Kathiawad fashion show became the last public event held at the opera house.

Revival in 21st century

Subsequently, it was in a dilapidated condition but in March 2008 the Maharashtra Government agencies announced that they were undertaking conservation measures to restore the heritage structure to its original grandeur. When restoration began, the only operational wings of the opera house were a tea stall and shops on the ground floor.

Structure

The Opera House is built in a mixed classical design featuring a blend of European and Indian architectural styles. The design was conceived in 1908 by Maurice Bandmann, an entertainer from Kolkata and his partner Jehangir Framji Karaka, who was the head of a firm of coal brokers.

Past events

Since its inauguration in 1912, the opera house has been a landmark of Bombay, as the only opera house in the country. The entertainment extravaganza at the opera house was started by American magician Raymond followed by several premieres of famous Hindi movies. The opera house screened not only premieres of Hindi movies but also live theatre performances by the French production Pathé, Prithviraj Kapoor, and Marathi stalwarts like Bal Gandharva and Dinanath Mangeshkar. Lata Mangeshkar, a renowned play back singer gave her first performance at this opera house. In 1993, Fashion designer Sangita Kathiwada, a relative of Jyotinder Singh, the former Maharaja of Gondal State (the owner of the place), held a fashion show at the opera house. It was the last public event held at the Opera House.

Restoration measures

Initially, in May 2001, it was noted that since the opera house was a Heritage building, it could not be redeveloped but only restored. Even for restoration, funds needed to be found. With these two basic aspects in view, the planning dictum followed was that:

The historicity of the building and its architecture will be lost if it is not used as a theatre and there should not be a change of user.

The initial plan proposed was to convert a part of the open plot to be developed commercially to generate funds, which could self sustain the expenditure involved in the restoration and maintenance of the existing heritage building. To proceed further with this plan, it was also considered essential to negotiate with the existing owner Maharaja Vikramsinghji Bhojraji of Gondal to get his consent to the incentive plan.

The Maharashtra State Government wanted to take over the Opera House to restore it to its original grandeur. The government requested the Mumbai Urban Heritage Conservation Committee (MUHCC) to acquire the heritage structure after verifying its legal status. The MUHCC had already been entrusted with the task of preparing plans for restoration of the opera house as it was categorised as a Grade II Heritage Structure. The detailed proposal for conservation was prepared by well known conservation architects of Mumbai. In May 2008, MUHCC authorised Abha Narain Lambah and her associates to carry out the structural stabilisation of the building and its restoration. Abha, the architect, considers the restoration of the Opera House as her dream project and states:

It's such a stunning building. Restoring the building would be a dream come true for me.

As restoration began, repairs to the roof and the balconies of the structure were deemed to be of the highest priority. With the conservation works undertaken, the erstwhile Maharaja of Gondal expects that the structure's original grandeur will be restored. By late 2011, exterior restoration was mostly completed. Thereafter, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced the inclusion of the building in its 2012 global list of endangered architectural sites, with the only other building in Mumbai being Watson's Hotel. In January 2013, Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) approved the plans of the Gondal family to restore and revamp the buildings interiors.

References

References

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4. (22 October 2017). "Mumbai's Royal Opera House ready to get a new food and music destination". [[Mid-Day]].
5. "5 of the oldest cinema houses in Mumbai".
6. "Regal Cinema in Mumbai". [[The Guardian]].
7. (23 May 2008). "Royal Opera House gets renovation nod". [[The Times of India]], Mumbai.
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10. Nina Sibal. (1998). "Dogs of Justice". Orient Blackswan.
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13. (7 October 2011). "See Inside the Amazing Restoration of Mumbai's Royal Opera House". [[The Times of India]].
14. (7 October 2011). "Royal Opera House on global list of endangered architectural sites". DNA (newspaper).
15. (21 January 2013). "Royal Opera House to get back its glory". [[Hindustan Times]] Mumbai.