When Shashi Kiran Shetty, founder and chairman of Allcargo Group, suggested we meet at his home for breakfast, I happily agreed. His home, Aashirwad, is after all the most storied address on Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai. Until 2014, the sea-facing property belonged to Indian cinema’s first superstar – the enigmatic and, in later years, reclusive Rajesh Khanna.

 

Khanna had bought the bungalow in the 1970s from another box office favourite, Rajendra Kumar, whose commercial success had earned him the moniker “Jubilee Kumar”. In the ’50s, yet another leading actor of his time, Bharat Bhushan, best known for his portrayals in Mirza Ghalib and Baiju Bawra, owned the two-storey bungalow.

 

After Shetty acquired the 6,500 sq ft property, two years after Khanna’s death in July 2012, he decided to demolish it to build a 10-storey family home. This caused quite an uproar.

The Aashirwad I walk into is now a modern building with an eight-foot boundary wall and high security. The old-world charm is lost. Like formula films, the space has got a formulaic treatment. This has been the fate of several of Mumbai’s old bungalows, which are being torn down to make way for glass and steel buildings. The city’s nouveau riche appear to prefer functionality over nostalgia.

 

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