A golden necklace adorned by my queen Mumbai – Marine Drive

The two of us were heading for Dadar while on our way back from Kalbadevi. It was then that my friend, suddenly excited went “Is that Abhishek Bachchan, Holy cow! That’s Abhishek Bachchan.” “No ways it is Abhishek Bachchan, must be someone else”, said I. Poor sighted as I was, my good old buddy prevailed in the end. It was AB Junior indeed, shooting for a film. He was accompanied by Mahima Chaudhary and an entire movie crew on a stretch of road by the side of Arabian Sea in Mumbai. A huge crowd had gathered around, wanting to get a peep of the stars. An old havaldar in khaki was having the time of his life, literally hitting the crowd with his long lathi.” Chala nigha ikdun kutrayaanun” (clear the pathway bloody dogs) he went. Now mw and my pal knew better and made it a point to keep safe distance.This was an incident from way back in the summer of 2002. I would later come to know that the film being shot was Om Jai Jagadish directed by acclaimed actor Anupam Kher, also present here now in his silver Mercedes. Boy did I find Abhishek Bachchan to be really tall and rather handsome.

It was indeed an eventful day from many years ago. The area was Marine Drive or Queen’s Necklace as we Mumbaikars more fondly call it. A 3-kilometre-long stretch of main road adjacent to the Arabian Sea, Marine Drive is among the more celebrated landmarks of Mumbai. It is a favorite shooting spot for most directors as my own little experience here would have made things clear already. The official name of Marine Drive is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road. But unfortunate as it is, the road’s real name is forgotten today.

Along the entire stretch of the road is a broad promenade that has people frequenting to take in the fresh incoming breeze from the Sea. The setting sun in the evening is absolutely soul touching and a soothing sight in the otherwise chaotic city of Mumbai. One may also see a decent line up of palm trees along the side. Trees are a rarity here, considering the area surrounding Marine Drive has seen a lot of construction over the years, loosing much of its old greenery. At the northern end of Marine Drive is the location of Chowpatty beach which is among the more clean beaches of Mumbai.

Mumbai Marine Drive

The real estate value surrounding the C’-shaped six-lane concrete road is absolutely high. In fact, at US$2100 per square feet, the area adjacent to Marine Drive has the fourth most expensive property prices in the world. The Intercontinental, Oberoi, Hotel Marine Plaza and a string of other luxury hotels and restaurants lie along the esplanade that marine drive is. The Drive was also fondly called Sonapur by the Marathi population of yore.

It’s a known fact as to why Marine Drive is called as the Queen’s Necklace. It’s because, at night time, if one looks at the entire stretch of Marine Drive from an elevated position anywhere along the drive, it resembles a golden necklace as though adorned by our Queen Mumbai herself.