Visiting National Museum of Indian Cinema Mumbai - 1: The Gulshan Mahal Galleries

Gulshan Mahal is a 19th-century bungalow that houses the first section of the NMIC Museum, Mumbai. Architecturally it is a magnificent heritage structure and you can capture some superb images from various angles. Visitors can check out the interesting history of this bungalow at the entrance to it, on the display board on the right-hand wall. 

There are 9 galleries here. I turned right from the main hall so as per my walkabout tour, I am mentioning the gallery numbers. 

On the ground floor is-

Gallery 1 and Gallery 2: Origin of Cinema and the Entry of Cinema in India

Cinematograph

The superbly designed entrance hall is something that not only grabs your attention, but also motivates you to explore the museum in its entirety. This segment begins with the Praxinoscope, a device used to overcome picture distortion. Similarly, there are other early devices used in cinema, such as the magic lantern, the phenakistoscope, the Mutoscope, and a superb range of cameras, including one used in the silent era and one used during wartime to spot bombs. Other associated equipment like camera chargers, sound recorders, splicers, etc is on display.

The gallery also has an explanation of the early Indian traditions of visual storytelling, how cinema developed with the Lumiere Brothers, and the cameras they used, such as the hand-cranked camera and the Cinematograph (a 3-in-2 equipment with camera, processor and projector). Learn about the first reels at Watson's Hotel in Mumbai, and later at the Novelty theatre.

From there I turned right to enter the next two galleries.

Gallery 3 and Gallery 4: The Silent Era of Indian Cinema, and the Advent of Sound

As the segment's titles indicate, here you see the transition from the times when movies had no sound to those which did. On display, there is an actual 35mm RCA Optical Recorder which was used for recording final optical soundtracks for printing purposes. The display panels on the walls showcase the stars of the soundless films who commanded a fan following with their emotive expressions alone and continued to do so into the talking era. These include Sulochana (Ruby Myers), Gohar Mamajiwala, Kamlabai Gokhale who starred in Dadasaheb Phalke’s Mohini Bhasmasur along with her mother Durgabai Kamat (they were the first ladies in Indian cinema), Dinshaw Billimoria, Master Vithal, Prithviraj Kapoor, etc.

Then go up the lovely staircase with posters lining the walls to the first floor. 

Staircase leading to upper galleries

Here, there are galleries dedicated to-

Gallery 5: Regional Cinema

Regional Cinema Gallery

In this gallery are display boards dedicated to regional cinema niches, including Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam Telegu, Tamil, Assamese, Manipur, Odia, Bengali, etc. In addition to the names of the stars, there are a lot of informative snippets on each. A few examples- Prabhat Film Company’s Sant Tukaram was the first Indian film to win the best film award at the 1937 Venice Film Festival; Vellinakshatram (1949) was the first movie to be made in Kerala; Joymoti by Jyotiprasad Agarwala was the first Assamese film; Sita-bibaha, directed by Mohan Sundar Deb Goswami, was the first Odia talkie.

Gallery 6: New Wave and Parallel Cinema

This section gives a brief overview on the display boards in the passage outside gallery 5, mentioning the advent of Eastman colour photography in Hindi cinema and the impact of digital technology on the distribution, exhibition, and projection of films.

The most fascinating feature to see here is the tiny screens in which you can watch movies of the past. I was taken down nostalgia lane on the screen showing Ashok Kumar’s famous Rail Gaadi song (train song) in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's movie 'Aashirwad' (this particular screen was in the passage). Recalling this song instantly brought a smile to my face.

Tiny film screen

Then come down back to the ground floor, go across the main hall where you first started and you will enter the galleries of-

Gallery 7: Creative Resonance

Commemorative stamps 

You will get a glimpse of Indian cinema’s creative stalwarts of the post-independence era, such as V. Shantaram, Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt, Ritwik Ghatak, etc. Don’t miss the superb set of commemorative stamps on directors and stars of Indian Cinema.

Gallery 8: Studio Era

Learn about the major studios which shaped the various film industries across India. Check out the film magazine snippets, posters and publicity material of earlier eras.

Various Equipment

The central exhibit has a host of cameras, sound and light equipment. What caught my eye were the "shadow" images on the wall behind. Brilliant creativity!

Brilliant wall imagery

Old Film Posters

Here's a hilarious critical analysis of songs in an old film magazine-

Film magazine snippet

Gallery 9: Impact of World War II

This section showcases the movies from the 1930s to the 1940s, when the freedom movement in India, the Second World War and other socio-political events took place.

Back in the main hall, in case you missed checking out the ceiling displays-

Main Hall

And don't miss out on the beautiful tiles and door designs-

I mentioned the stunning architectural features of the Gulshan Mahal. Here's one that I took, lucky to get a shot with a bird in the frame (is that a hawk?)

Gulshan Mahal roof

There are elephant head sculptures at the corners, and this particular one had a tiny plant above it, so it looks as though the elephant is reaching up with its trunk for it-

Elephant Head Sculpture

You thus have much to enjoy - learn about Indian Cinema's rich history, take a breather in the crisp, clear air in the outdoor greenery, and capture stunning photographs in and around the Gulshan Mahal bungalow which is part of the National Museum of Indian Cinema, Mumbai.

NMIC Mumbai Museum Contact Information

Address: 24, Dr. G. Deshmukh Marg (Pedder Road), Cumballa Hill, Mumbai- 400026.

Ph: +91-022-23551377

Email: nmic@filmsdivision.org / nmicmumbai@nfdcindia.com

Website: https://nmicindia.com/

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