Come hail, heatwave (like the current one) or rain, one thing that never changes as far as Mumbai goes is the surging crowds outside four famous addresses in the metropolis.
Tourists coming to the city from across India, over weekends, summer vacations or even our very own Mumbaikars have a devoted Sunday routine.
Sonu Sood’s helping hands
It usually begins around 10 a.m., outside a building called Casablanca in one of the back lanes of Oshiwara, Mumbai. “We start queuing up much earlier,” says a regular visitor. “Sonu Sood sir’s timing differs. He usually comes in the mornings.” From 2021 onwards, the Bollywood actor-filmmaker has been meeting people from across India outside his long-time suburban residence. There is a mixed bunch in the jostling crowds—selfie-seekers, fans, the needy and some plain gawkers.
There is one Guddu, who is the charioteer. He and his bunch walk, scouring the crowds to separate the genuine help-seekers from the rest. They then ask people to hand over their petitions to them so that when the Hindi film superstar arrives, he can do a quicker meet-and-greet round. Sood also makes it a point to meet patients, parents of handicapped children and such others, who seek him out for financial aid, sometimes week on week.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Sunday darshan
Sharp at 5 in the evening, mammoth crowds gather on the footpath opposite Jalsa, the residence of Hindi cinema’s most-famous icon, Amitabh Bachchan. “It started after my accident on the sets of Coolie in the early 80s,” Bachchan has said on many occasions, adding how he was humbled by the selflessness of fans who travel, week-on-week, from various parts of India, just to see him and ask about his well-being.
For nearly four-and-a-half decades, this routine, also referred to as “Sunday darshan,” holds up traffic for around 15 minutes at least, on the busy Juhu junction of Jalsa and J W Marriott. The conscientious superstar makes sure that the other public and pedestrians are not inconvenienced beyond a point and that the traffic flows as smoothly as possible.
Years of this darshan routine flow like clockwork because the well-organized Mumbai traffic police and the Bachchans’ security bandobast are now professionals at getting the fans to move quickly away. Of course, there is the occasional glitch, when a fan or a member of the Big B’s extended family (as he refers to them as) breaks down, unable to control their emotion on seeing their idol, standing on a mini-podium just behind his bungalow gate. When he utters a “Namaskar” and waves, there are scenes of people crying, weak-kneed and almost fainting because of the sheer impact of his presence in front of them.
Salman Khan’s Galaxy craze
Till his home at Galaxy acquired a notorious, out-of-public-bounds status and even a bullet-proof balcony cover for the most part, Salman Khan’s home at Bandstand drew massive crowds every Sunday. However, after the April 2024 shooting incident and his current Y+ security level, fans are not allowed to assemble even on the footpath opposite Galaxy, except on Eid, when Salman waves to them.
But Galaxy remains a Sunday haunt for the die-hard fanatic, who dodges the police gaze to seek a quick selfie, even if it means standing on the pavement opposite their eternal favourite “bhaijaan’s” home.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Mannat magic
The final and ultimate destination for every Bollywood fan is the promenade and mini-garden junction outside Mannat, the residence of Hindi cinema’s richest superstar, Shah Rukh Khan. A security staffer from an adjacent building says, “The Mannat darshan is no longer a Sunday routine. While the crowds on Sunday are much larger, getting themselves photographed outside Shah Rukh Khan saab’s gates has become an everyday routine. With each passing year, the crowds have multiplied.”
Ironically, at this moment, SRK is not staying at Mannat because the annexure behind his bungalow is undergoing a nearly two-year renovation. Again, like Salman, the fans only get to see Shah Rukh on Eid, when he climbs his imposing fence and waves to them from the inside.
However, whether the King is at home or at a temp location, does not seem to deter the crowds outside Mannat. For those who worship him, even the gates of his abode are divine.
