After being destroyed in a fire in 2017, the iconic RK Studios will now make way for luxury flats after being bought by Godrej Properties. According to a report in livemint.com, Godrej Properties plans to convert the 71-year-old property into a residential and retail space. While the exact value of the deal is not official yet, experts suggest that it could be in the range of Rs 50-60 crore.
As per a report in Mumbai Mirror, Randhir Kapoor confirmed that the sale of RK Studios to Godrej Properties was done six months ago because of the fire which destroyed the studio. On Friday, Pirojsha Godrej, executive chairman of Godrej Properties issued a statement stating, “We are happy to add this iconic site in Chembur to our development portfolio. This fits well with out strategy of deepening our presence in key locations across India’s leading cities.”
The statement from Godrej Properties also mentions that the land area is spread across 2.2 acres and the project under them would offer around 33,000 sq mt of saleable area comprising modern apartments and a luxury retail experience.
Situated in Mumbai’s Chembur suburb, RK Studios was built in the 1950s by Raj Kapoor and it wasn’t just a hub for RK Films, but alsofor several other popular filmmakers in the 70s and 80s including Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
Speaking to The Quint earlier, Randhir Kapoor had said that the fire in RK Studio in 2017 had destroyed almost everything, “We had to dismantle the entire place after the fire. It’s even more an emotional loss than monetary loss. We have lost the entire memorabilia of Raj Kapoor. Whatever Raj Kapoor had built has been burnt down. Everything is gone.”
Kapoor had also told us why rebuilding RK Studio would have not been economically viable for the Kapoors. “With the state of the roads and traffic today, no actor comes to Chembur to shoot in this studio. They would rather go to Film City. So, with a very heavy heart, we have decided to let it go. My whole family is very sad, but there’s no other way,” said an emotional Randhir in an interview last year.
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