First Look: Royal Opera House’s Interior Makeover Is Worthy Of All The Hype

At a time when Mumbaikar’s have lost one too many heritage landmarks, including the iconic Parle-G factory being shut down, news of the Royal Opera House’s re-opening has stirred up a sense of pride in the city. Charni road will have a prized gem added to its crown with the restoration of this incredible structure, which had for a long time gotten lost in the pages of history, remembered only as reference for a nearby bus stop.

Numerous media outlets have reported that the Opera House, which has been under restoration for the last eight years, will be re-opening after twenty three years. Inaugurated in 1911 by King George V, the Opera House has played host to many historic performaners such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, and Bal Gandharva, to name a few; it is even said that Mahamta Gandhi himself had once held a public event at this venue in 1932. In the 1920s it played the role of a cinema hall when the first French Pathe films where shown, followed up with Hindi films in the years after. As the popularity of single screens dwindled, the Opera House fell on hard times, ending up a neglected ghost of its one-time glory as wild creepers and shrubs overran the dilapidated structure.

100 years have passed and now the glorious institution, built by coal baron Jahangir Karak, is back to enchant its loyal patrons. It wasn’t Karaka alone, but Mauric Bandmann, an entertainer from Kolkata, as well who is said to have given the venue its unique baroque architecture. It was bought by the Maharaja of Gondal Vikramsinhji in 1952 and has been with the royal family since. It was the Gondal family that commissioned its restoration when the venue found itself in the ‘endangered monuments around the world’ list in 2004. The owners Maharaja Saheb Jitendra Singhji Jadeja and Maharani Saheb Kumud Kumari Gondal chose restoration architect Abha Narain Lambah to bring the venue back to its glory, and after painstaking research and hard labour, it’s ready for its debut.

Lambah wrote a blog for NDTV in which she spoke about the many surprises and serendipity she encountered while restoring the opera house; “We started work in 2009 and our biggest challenge and our first priority was obviously the structural restoration of the building with roof repairs and water-proofing. There were severe threats to the basements and the balconies that were leaning outwards, and the first two years, in fact, were solely focused on restoring the structural stability of this project,” she writes.

Trees were growing in the walls and the structure was derelict, she said, adding, “The girders were so corroded they were like lace, the jack arches had to be supported, there were distressed areas and leaning balconies. We relied on archival documents, old photographs and historic texts that described the interiors when the building opened in 1916. When we removed the side partitions, we were delighted to find the old structural system of these flanking balconies and that was a complete surprise – these balconies are now restored to their old glory,” to The National.

When it was built it had Minton floor tiles, cast iron balustrades and chandeliers donated by the eminent Jewish family of the Sassoons, reported CNN traveller. Rafique Baghdadi, eminent historian of Mumbai stated in the Free Press Journal that the venue was one of the most luxurious structures of the time. “This was the new luxurious venue for musical and theatrical production – with its 24 dressing rooms with hot and cold showers and (an obvious novelty of that time!) an exhaust fan. The orchestra stalls had comfortable cane chairs; 26 rows of boxes and couches were arranged behind the stalls, and these and Dress Circle gave a clear view of the stage. Special attention was paid to acoustics by constructing the ceiling in away as ‘to enable even those seated in the gallery to hear every word or song from the stage quite audibly.’ Although the work was completed in 1912, several additions continued to be made until 1915 and the total construction cost added up to Rs. 7.5 lakhs. Among other things, the figures atop the pediment was replaced by three cherubs, the entrance got a rich statuary installed, and frescoes decorated the interior of the entrance domes; exquisite dados were executed below the boxes. A pair of exquisite crystal chandeliers (‘sans souci’) brought over from the Sassoon mansion, added to the luxury of this site frequented by the koi-hais of Bombay city,” he wrote. The venue was redesigned as an Art-Deco Cinema hall in the 1940s.

In a report by NDTV, Lambah said, “”A professor of theatre in Australia sent me an e-mail saying he was sending a 1917 catalog that documented some of the Opera Houses of the world and the Mumbai Opera House was one of those. It had photographs and details that were very helpful to understand how the whole place looked at that time.”

With the addition of stagecraft and lighting to the acoustics, air conditioning and the fire safety precautions, the venue has restored the stained glass work, a dome with English literature greats, Corinthian columns and box frame seats where the royals and elite once were witness to extraordinary performances. CEO of Avid Learning, Asad Lalljee, who is the head of programming at the Royal Opera House wants the space to be accessible to all. “We aim to be a vibrant cultural hub our upcoming program we at Royal Opera House Mumbai we will try to present new voices and talent and will open its doors not only to for the elite but also for NGOs and other organizations. We will host various kinds of cultural events/ programs. This is space for Mumbai and we look forward to give platform to both young and experienced that brings diverse programs to our venue for our audience,” he tells Homegrown.

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The 500 plus seater was reimagined for live performance, what it was originally built for, and the halls echoed with melodious music when the Mumbai-born British Soprano Patricia Rozario, with Mark Troop on piano, gave a performance in October. Maharani Kumud Kumari of Gondal, who also owns the Opera House said that they have exciting plans in the near future for the venue. “We have cafes planned in the time to come as well as a fine dine restaurant; you can have dinner under the moonlight soon,” she told Mumbai Mirror.

We can’t wait to take a carriage down the cobbled streets of the Royal Opera House as its creates history yet again, as well as a bright future for India on the global cultural map.