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Mumbai of course is a megacity no doubt and it's development in terms of city wide infrastructure, real estate has been tremendous, teh city has been expanding beyond control and is one of the most populous in the world. No doubt it is the financial capital and backbone of India..

But i wanted to have a perspective how the same city looked back and how it was developing in the '70-s -80's. I was told many iconic buildings we see in Mumbai have been there for quite long such as the express towers, Air india building, Trident, Taj, Stock Exchange building. Though i dont hail from the city i have gathered few pictures and shared the same here which was again obtained from the web. The person posted claims all the pictures to be from 1982 which covers many shots taken from corner to corner during everyday running's errands.. I could also see few high rise residential buildings as well. The age of the pictures proves its timeline with the

Could Mumbai'kars please help us identify the locations of where these were taken actually ? Also welcome to add more pictures taken in mid's 80's late 70's of Downtown Mumbai.

I have few more pictures and shall upload them as per request.

Please do share more pictures. For someone like me who is based in Delhi but has been traveling to Mumbai for past few years these are fascinating. I go, stay in a hotel, do meetings and then head back. The good old Amby and the Fiat that moved India for many decades. Marine Drive! While we now have the Trident and Oberoi side by side, actually joined, the picture (if I am not mistaken) only shows what we now call Trident. Time capsule :)

Yes all we see is only Ambassadors and Premier padmini's. And i guess both trident and oberoi were built in 70's but i was unable to spot Express Towers in the first pic.

Some mumbai' kars can help us locate the areas if interested ?

Posting moreo pictures as per request Please provide us with the exact locations if possible.

I guess one thing that has remained constant since the 80's is the rush in local trains :). One thing I want to ask - when did local trains start functioning in Mumbai?

A landmark I really miss from the eighties....just so many memories at this place. No hotel till date has the charm of Sea Rock:

Image Credit

And how the plot looks today:

Image Credit

Yeah, Looks emotional to see it barren now. Was told most of the international cricket players were made to stay here during it's prime. If you have pictures of the interior please do share GTO. This hotel was in bandstand area ?

Also posting few more. Need your help in identifying the locations if possible.

What a beautiful thread! A good part of my childhood was spent in Mumbai, the Mumbai that is reflected in these pictures. Roads used to be "filled" with only BEST buses, taxis and a few private Padminis & Ambys. Locals were always full but never at the levels seen today (or that is what I remember).

Sriram, some of these are lovely pictures, with a good eye for photography (IMO) :)

#1 is the Prnce of Wales Museum. (Now officially known as the "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya" :p)

#3 is a view of the tower of silence (wells) in the foreground and the Hanging Gardens in the background. Malabar hill.

Interestingly, if you look at the Hanging Gardens (ie. Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens) from the top, the pathways form the initials PMG...





cya
R

Thanks Rehaan, i was indeed trying hard to figure it out the initials PMG, never the less though.

As far as pic#3 goes, i have few more shall post, but unable to make out any structure there except for the large swamp of greens. It s still so striking to see so many high rises way back in 1970's.

If you got pictures of 80's pl post here?

GTO, loved your post ! I too lived very close to Sea Rock , at Sea King Apartments near Bandstand, as a school kid. Sea King had a lovely regal look about it . What a location ! I remember that a small fort next to Sea Rock was where important scenes of 'Shakti' between Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan were shot in 1982 !

we'd walk up to Sea Rock quite often !

Had a revolving restaurant . May be even the climax of 'Naseeb' was shot there in 1981. I feel very sad about the attacks on the hotel . Actress Rekha lived across the road in SeaQueen apartments then.

Salman Khan was also studying in school then and lived across the road in the same building. Wish I knew him then : )

thanks GTO!

Did the hotel stop functioning only after the '93 Blasts. Do you have pics of the hotel during it's prime. Could you please post here.

Any pic from mid to late 80's of downtown mumbai please post here if you feel it s publishable to public and not a very private collection.

Post #1
Pic #2: This pic has been taken from the Marine Drive Flyover. The beauty of this flyover is that it cuts across Marine Drive perpendicular. So it always gives a beautiful view of the entire promenade.

Pic #5: This is at Colaba, Apollo Buder. You can see the Taj Hotel in the background. It is the road leading to Gateway from the Cafe Mondegar Junction. If you do enter that lane and take the first right, you would get Tulloch Road which houses the ever famous 3 stand-out eateries of Bombay i.e. Bade Miyan's, Cafe Bagdadi & Gokul.

The first train that ran was way back in 1853 between VT(Bori Bunder) and Thana. It was the first train service not only in Bombay, but in the country. And still going strong!:)

For me the best thing about Bombay is the mix of the old and the new. You will have the high-rises, the malls, the swanky Linking Roads, Lokhandwalas, Juhus, side-by-side you will have the Sea-Links, the Link Roads, the upcoming(hopefully) Metro and the old and typical British structures and traditions. VT, BMC Headquartes, The Irani Cafes, Prince of Wales Museum, the Mills of Lower Parel, the late night eateries, juice junctions. The wada pav stalls, Bachelors, Cafe Brittania and so on. The list will go on! I love the city and would not bat an eye-lid in saying that i will never exchange living in another city for Bombay!

You can take me out of Bombay, but you can't take the Bombay out of me.

Saanil, The first passenger train in India was between Bori Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane on 16th April 1853. In fact till about 10 years back there was a train which left Mumbai CST to Thane at 3:57 PM which was the time when the first train started from Bori Bunder. During the timetable revision, this one was also changed!!!!! (I am not sure if this is re-introduced as there was a lot of hue and cry to have one at this time (I left Mumbai about 9 years back)).

This one was posted by moralfibre years ago... (Kemps Corner, in what I'm guessing is the late 70s / very early 80s?):


Girgaum Chopatty:


An aerial view - the photo looks older than it probably is:


And this one is cheating. Its from the late 90s - but its still pretty mind-blowing. During an air-show at marine drive:


cya
R