Cargo captain

Shetty, the logistics leader who lives where Rajesh Khanna once did, takes DEV CHATTERJEE through his life that started at the docks, with some cinematic stopovers

When Shashi Kiran Shetty, founder and chairman of Allcargo Group, suggested we meet at his home for breakfast, I happily agreed. His home, Aashirwad, is after all the most storied address on Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai. Until 2014, the sea-facing property belonged to Indian cinema's first superstar - the enigmatic and, in later years, reclusive Rajesh Khanna.

Khanna had bought the bungalow in the 1970s from another box office favourite, Rajendra Kumar, whose commercial success had earned him the moniker "Jubilee Kumar". In the '50s, yet another leading actor of his time, Bharat Bhushan, best known for his portrayals in Mirza Ghalib and Baiju Bawra, owned the twostorey bungalow.

After Shetty acquired the 6,500 sq ft property, two years after Khanna's death in July 2012, he decided to demolish it to build a 10-storey family home. This caused quite an uproar.

The Aashirwad I walk into is now a modern building with an eight-foot boundary wall and high security. The old-world charm is lost. Like formula films, the space has got a formulaic treatment. This has been the fate of several of Mumbai's old bungalows, which are being torn down to make way for glass and steel buildings. The city's nouveau riche appear to prefer functionality over nostalgia. Will I find anything reminiscent of the Rajesh Khanna era here, I wonder.

I am in for a surprise. A part of the house, designed by the artist Atul Dodiya, has paintings and pictures that pay homage to Khanna. "They depict his life and struggles in the industry," says Shetty, 66, as we settle down for home-cooked breakfast starting with millet upma and khandvi, a savoury snack popular in both Gujarati and Maharashtrian cuisine. Some of the paintings on the ground floor recall Khanna's cinematic journey, including his iconic dialogue from Amar Prem (1972):