Raj Kapoor @100: Reliving The Showman’s Love For Chembur’s Streets and Flavours

Chembur was where Raj Kapoor lived and worked. And the foodie that he was, he explored many of the restaurants in the leafy suburb. He used to gobble pani puris at Gupta Bhel stall opp Chembur railway station and head towards Cafe Udipi across Central Avenue Road. The cafe owner Vijay Shetty reminiscences: “He preferred to eat in the small open space in front of my cafe. He would order only one medu wada and follow it up with rava dosa. His knowledge of food was amazing. If asafoedita or hing was less in the sambar he used to point it out to me. Once he asked me get kori roti and gassi from home.”

The legend was a regular at the now defunct Ravi Cafe also on Central Avenue Road where he loved to gorge on its masala dosa. He had a fixed table there and till the hotel downed shutters a portrait of the actor used to adorn the wall just above his favourite table. He tried the dishes at the next door Geeta Bhavan. Even now regular patrons recall his visits to these vegetarian joints.

Apart from the famed Holi party at RK Studio in Chembur, the Ganpati celebrations organised by him were legendary. On the day of visarjan lakhs of people used to line both the sides of the route from RK Studio all the way to Shivaji Park beach just to catch a glimpse of the actor dancing on the streets with gay abandon.