Newspaper Clippings

Our media clippings on the Irani cafes of Bombay have been collected across the last two decades. They cover the period from the late 1890s to the present day.

 

Films

Three examples of film work capturing unique views of Mumbai's Irani cafés. 

 

New Empire

Director : Kurush Canteenwala, 2002

Constructed through images employing both Super 8- and 16-mm film, we see encounters between friends set around Bombay Irani New Empire Restaurant and Bakery. Now a McDonald's, the film explores this change through conversations with a group of old friends as they loose their hang-out.

 

Aur Irani Chai

Directors : Berzin Irani, Vikas Sharma with Rahul Srivastava and Neighbourhood Project students of Wilson College, Mumbai. 2004

A documentary on Mumbai’s Irani cafes undertaken by students of Wilson College, south Mumbai, with the support of PUKAR – Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research, Mumbai.

 

Brun

Director : Atul Sabharwal, 2005

Shot with one handycam Brun documents the daily rhythms of business at Grant Road's iconic B. Merwan café.

 

Acknowledgments :

We would like to thank local historian Mr Deepak Rao and Mr Dara Acidwalla who shared many of these news clippings with us.

We thank the filmmakers who have shared their work with us.