The leafy cover hides one of India’s famous cinematic monuments at 100, Hill Road, Bandra. As one enters Mehboob Studio—which has been a prominent address for the film fraternity for six decades—past the garden in the front, stark buildings greet the visitor. The starkness, of course, is deceptive. The enclosed stages, where sets are created, belie any clue of how Sanjay Leela Bhansali is giving shape to his upcoming celluloid dream Guzaarishor the grand platform created for Akshay Kumar’s new show for a television channel.

What’s stranger is that despite being at the helm of churning out reels and reels of dreams for decades, Mehboob Studio still maintains its enigma. However, a group of early-risers will get a chance today to explore this property and rediscover the visionary, Mehboob Khan, who established this. As part of Celebrate Bandra Festival, documentary filmmaker Anuradha Tandon will be taking them for a tour of the studio. “Very few have visited the studio even though it has been a part of Bandra’s folklore, and continues to be a prominent landmark.”

Khan, who was famous for his proclivity for creating lavish sets, always wanted to have his own studio. When he bought this four-acre land in 1950, he was already a big name with films like Aurat (1940), Anmol Ghadi (1946) and Andaz (1949) to his credit. For the Dilip Kumar-starrer Aan (1951), his first colour film, the legendary producer-director created a huge sports arena here. However, the studio took three more years to be ready and fully functional. Amar (1954) bagged the distinction of being the first film to be made there while Mother India (1958) is known for its elaborate sets.

Seventy-eight-year-old Pandurang Mistry, who has been employed at the studio for the last six decades, remembers, “This area was full of chikoo trees when the land was acquired. For Aan, Khan Shahab created huge sets of a fort and palace here. Years later, we saw him once again attempt massive sets for Mother India.”

However, the studio wasn’t open for commercial use till the death of Khan. “When father was alive, he rarely rented the studio. Only some close friends like Guru Dutt, Dev and Chetan Anand shot their films here,” recollects his son Iqbal Khan. In 1962, Mehboob Khan’s ambitious project, Son of India, flopped. Deep in debt, he died two years later. This is when his family members—most of them stay in a spacious apartment in the heart of the studio—opened its doors for commercial use to pay off the debt. “Since then most of the big names of the industry have made their films here,” says Iqbal.

Structurally the place hasn’t witnessed much change. A moss-covered half-constructed building still stands there showing signs of the enduring vagaries of nature. However, the studio now has seven stages. Three of them are huge, and have been there since the days of Mehboob Khan. The rest are smaller spaces, which have been converted into stages over the years for still photography and ad-shoots. “One of them happens to be the recording studio where the legendary music director Naushad used to work. He composed music for almost all of my father’s films,” says Iqbal.

Since the studio wasn’t able to keep up with the new recording technologies, converting it into a stage made more business-sense. The location of the studio and the kind of space available, have ensured that business is good. “We record 90 per cent booking throughout the year,” says Iqbal.