Ganesh Chaturthi is a popular festival in B-Town. From Salman Khan to Shilpa Shetty to Jeetendra, many actors celebrate Bappa's homecoming every year with pomp and fervour. But it's RK Studios Ganesh Chaturthi which is considered to be the oldest and best. For many decades, Kapoor khandaan has been welcoming Lord Ganesha on this auspicious day, but this Ganesh Chautrthi seems to be the last at the RK Studio.
It is no secret that RK Studio is on sale. After a major part of the 70-year-old studio was gutted in fire last year, Kapoors decided to let go of the two-acre studio since the renovation doesn't seem like an economically viable idea.
(Also Read): Iconic R.K. Studio Being Sold.
The iconic RK Studio may have welcomed Lord Ganesh for the last time on Ganesh Chaturthi yesterday. The studio built by Raj Kapoor in 1948 is up for sale (the family confirmed last month) and if it's sold within a year then it would have hosted Bappa for the last time in 2018. Raj Kapoor's sons Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor visited the pandal set-up inside the studio situated in Chembur, Mumbai. In a video shared by a fan club, the Kapoor brothers can be seen performing the aarti together. We also spotted Rajiv interacting with the devotees visiting Ganpati's temporary residence inside the studio premises.
In August this year, Rishi Kapoor confirmed that RK Studio, the late Raj Kapoor’s iconic studio, would be sold and that the decision was taken by the family collectively. Rishi told Mumbai Mirror that the family decided to sell the property after learning that the renovation of the studio would still not bring in enough revenue to keep the establishment running. “For a while, we did juggle with the idea of renovating the place with state-of-the-art technology. However, in reality it isn’t always possible for a phoenix to rise from the ashes. We Kapoors are very emotional lot but then... The investment in rebuilding the studio would just not have yielded sufficient revenue to keep it going. Believe me, we had to take the larger picture into account and take a level-headed decision. Even before the fire, for years RK Studio had become a huge white elephant, toting up losses. The few bookings we would get from films, TV serials and ad shoots would expect free parking space, air-conditioning and discounts.”
Offering further reasons which prompted the decision, Randhir had said “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”. When Randhir Kapoor was recently asked about the celebrations at RK Studio this year, the veteran actor told an entertainment portal, "We shall be celebrating Ganpati as usual like we do every year."