the paint is fresh but the victorian style gothic bungalow with its antique tiles sparkling chandelier and stained glass windows dates back to the 19th century after years of being shut peerbhoy khalakdinas home will open its doors to visitors from this weekend on february 22 information broadcasting minister manish tewari will inaugurate the countrys first national museum for indian cinema the museums curator film scholar and historian amrit gangar can talk endlessly not only about the memorabilia spread across the nine rooms of gulshal mahal but also the bungalow itself it was originally called gulshan abad and its main entrance offered a spectacular view of the sea he says the estate passed down from to the merchant son jairazbhoy peerbhoy and then his elder grandson noormohamad jairazbhoy when he died early without heirs it came into the possession of his younger brother cassamally jairazbhoy cassamallys third wife khurshid rajabally landscaped the five aces of woods into chinese and japanese gardens where mehfils were hosted their musicologist son nazir ali jairazbhoy made documentaries on indian music his mother filmed the haj pilgrimage which is one of the earliest documentaries made by an indian woman so it was apt that after serving briefly as a hospital for soldiers of the second war war and the jai hind college gulshan mahal post independence housed the office of the documentary films of india and later the films division says gangar in 1976 when films division shifted to a modern building within the premises the heritage bungalow only opened to the occasional film shoots like munnabhai mbbs till a museum advisory committee lead by filmmaker shyam benegal decided it was the perfect place a museum tracing the evolution of indian cinema from the silent era to the talkies from the studio system to star system the museum is not bollywoodcentric there is equal emphasis on the pioneers and stalwarts of every regional film zone from bengal to down south through the north to the northeast says coordinator anil kumar asserting the idea is to recreate and relive our cinema through a collection of equipment photographs handwritten shooting scripts lobby cards interactive computeraided displays cds and dvds and much more the design and display is the handiwork of kolkatas national council of science museum the bengal touch is evident in a scroll or pata chitra that has pride of place in the central hall introducing visitors to the notion of motion the word chitrapat comes from pata chitra informs gangar he points to a a replica of the shambarik kharolika or magic lantern one of the earliest projector known theres also the thaumatrope praxinoscope zeotrope and phenakistoscope early animation toys which used the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of motion children can play with them and understand the basic principle of motion pictures he reasons other landmarks of our cinematic history like the delhi durbar of 1911 is represented through a panel while a threedimensional tabulaeu of french cinematographers auguste and