The royal lifestyle of the Maharajas of the yore was brought to life at an exclusive screening ‘Jewels and marble palaces’ a period film by noted filmmaker Zafar Hai at the Taj West End recently.
The movies trace the Taj’s inherent tradition of restoring India’s royal heritage as it celebrates four magnificent palaces — Lake Palace in Udaipur, Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhavan Palace in Jodhpur and Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad.
Taking guests back to the glorious age of regal grace and beauty, the film features members of the Royal Indian families reliving the nostalgia of their golden past. Viewers are taken on a journey to unravel the mysteries of yesteryears. While the film reflects the ethos and culture of the pre-independence era, it also evokes the splendour and the magnificence of the palaces that were and still are, home to the royalty.
Immortalising the magical allure of these splendid palaces, the films reiterate Taj’s dream of preserving and, wherever possible, sensitively restoring palaces to their original glory. Zafar Hai is best known for his documentaries like ‘The Taj of Apollo Bunder’, ‘Merchant Princes of Bombay’ and Merchant-Ivory film, ‘The perfect murder’.
Quite a few Bangalore celebrities were present for the premier of the 30 minute film. Danseuse Vani Ganapathy, fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, theatre person Chippy Gangjee, social activist Munira Sen, Love Travel Guides founder Fiona Caulfield, and Vice President (Corporate), Tata Coffee Christine Fernandes Jamal were  among the many guests present.