Bollywood's most ‘haunted' shooting location was destroyed in fire, scared living daylights out of Amitabh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu: ‘They gave me holy water'

Indian Express

6 hours ago

One of Bollywood's most popular shooting locations is also among the most 'haunted'. The infamous Mukesh Mills compound in Colaba was closed down for film shoots in 2019, with the BMC citing its structural integrity as the main reason behind the closure. But even before it became illegal to shoot there, film crews were apprehensive about working at Mukesh Mills, having heard numerous stories over the years. In an Instagram post six years ago, actor Ayushmann Khurrana wrote that he'd heard stories of the compound as well. 'Log yahan andhere ke baad shoot nahi karte (People don't shoot here after dark). They think it's haunted,' he wrote.
According to a Conde Nast Traveller report, Mukesh Mills was established sometime in the late 1800s and the early 1990s by Muljibhai Madhvani, the Owner of East African Hardware Ltd, when hundreds of such mills were constructed around Mumbai. The famous Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel is now a mall. Mukesh Mills was constructed right by the sea in Colaba; it was the only mill in South Bombay. Years later, its prime location would make it a favourite for film shoots. It survived the Bombay Mill Workers' Strike of 1929 and World War II, before ultimately closing down in the year 2000. But it was abandoned many years earlier, when a fire destroyed the compound and killed several mill workers in 1982.
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Since then, the song 'Jumma Chumma De De' from the 1991 film Hum was shot there, as was the 'Whistle Baja' song from Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon's debut movie, Heropanti. Mahesh Bhatt filmed a scene from the film Sadak, starring Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt. Amitabh Bachchan wrote a blog post about his experiences at the location, where he shot films such as Akayla, Khuda Gawah, Agneepath, and Hum. Recalling his memories of the 'Jumma Chumma' shoot, he wrote, 'The interiors look eerie. Time worn machinery still inhabits the large halls or 'galas'. Drums made to contain finished raw material scattered about in abandon, twisted and rusted iron metal ravaged perhaps by a fire forming a perfect setting for dark scary visuals through the lenses of accomplished camera men and the only signs of occupation coming from the painted to suit film sets across the walls and exteriors.'
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Actor Bipasha Basu, who was supposed to film a scene for the film Footpath at Mukesh Mills, walked away with a terrifying experience. She recalled, 'I was shooting for Footpath at Mukesh Mills, in Mumbai. It's known to be spooky and there are many stories around it that the people in the film business keep talking about. It was during the day and I was supposed to shoot on the second floor of the premises. Generally, I don't forget my dialogues and I was alone in one room and there was this a very long track that was placed. Everyone else was in the other room, and each time I had to walk ahead and say the dialogue, it felt like something was stopping me.'
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She continued, 'I knew my entire monologue by heart, yet, I kept forgetting the lines. This happened repeatedly, and that's when my director Vikram Bhatt asked my hair stylist, 'What is Bipasha feeling?' Eventually, we decided that we should get out of there. They got me out of the set, and they gave me some holy water and stuff like that. I slept in the vanity van for a while and then they called for pack-up. The next day, the crew did a pooja there, basically so that we could continue shooting, but even the pandit who did the pooja had an accident. So, after that, we didn't complete the scene there; we shot it at a different location. I have no explanation for it, but what happened at Mukesh Mills was a scary experience.'
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Actor Kamya Panjabi had also 'heard stories' about Mukesh Mills over the years, but was sure that she'd be safe because she's 'a very religious person'. Even before the shoot began, she told India Forums in 2009, she lost her valuables and her new car broke down. But, on the day of the shoot, something terrifying happened. A girl who acts as one of the inmates in the mental asylum behaved like possessed. She suddenly had a manly voice, her face literally changed and those who were gathered there were taken aback. When I got to know of this, I wanted to see the girl; but stopped myself from going there. My director who went and saw the girl told me that the girl in a manly voice was screaming,'Yahan se chale jaao, yeh hamari jagah hai, maine mana kiya tha naa mat aana, chale jaoo''.
Kamya was shaken up by the experience, and had no intention of continuing the shoot. But she persevered, and the crew ensured that they wrap things up early. 'I will never go back to that place again,' she said. Others who've spoken about having experienced spooky incidents at Mukesh Mills include Saqib Saleem and Riteish Deshmukh. The late paranormal investigator Gaurav Tiwari, who founded the Indian Paranormal Society, 'investigated' the location in 2014.