MUMBAI: Make way for sleek carriages, once more, as women arrive in coiffured hair and men in suits when the
Royal Opera House
throws open its opulent interiors and pedimented facade to preside over the city's cultural and literary scene, the first time in 23 years with the inauguration of the 18th MAMI international film festival on Thursday .
Crisp white with wooden canopies on the outside and swathed in red, white and
gold
inside, the royal boxes are up on the walls. So are the stained glass windows and rich mouldings of sculpted foliage on the ceiling and proscenium arch.The orchestra pit has been widened and foyers heightened by frescoes and crystal chandeliers. Particularly those at the entrance with paintings of a former age and chandeliers donated by the Sassoon family .
The only surviving opera house in India was built in 1925 by coal baron Jahangir Karaka and
Morris Bandman
, an entertainer from Calcutta. The Baroque masterpiece in sand stone stood like a colossus in
Charni Road
with its cast iron balustrades, stone bracketed balconies and semi-circular arches. It became a cinema hall in the 50s but fell upon bad times with the video boom in the 80s. Owned by the Maharaja of Gondal since1952, the family managed to keep demolition squads at bay and commis sioned its restoration in 2010 with conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah at the helm. Restored as a 574-seater auditorium it boasts technical upgrades alongside reminisces of a period, splendidly preserved. In keeping with its days of yore, Friday will see soprano star Patricia Rozario take centrestage.
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