Pune's iconic Jayakar Bunglow restored

The restored heritage premises of Pune's iconic Jayakar Bungalow was inaugurated by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Sunday.

The bungalow, which is located inside the premises of the National Film Archives of India (NFAI), will house a digital film library where film researchers can access the rich film database of the archive. Also available would be personalised viewing spaces for watching a movie from the NFAI collection.

The minister released a special booklet ‘Parampara: An ode to Jayakar Bungalow’ that chronicles the history of the bungalow along with the story of its restoration.

A special feature of the booklet is the experiences shared by some of the renowned film artists including Shabana Azmi and Rehana Sultan among others, who had stayed in the Jayakar Bungalow as part of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) girls' hostel. The minister also launched a mobile app for booking the slot for viewing films at the NFAI.

He felicitated Prasanna Gokhale, the great-granddaughter of M R Jayakar, who was present on the occasion.

A grade I heritage structure, the bungalow was built in the 1940s by barrister M R Jayakar, a renowned national leader, member of the Constituent Assembly and first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pune.

Over the years, the ownership of the bungalow changed hands from Jayakar to the Indian Law Society to the FTII and then to the NFAI. From 1973, the NFAI functioned from its premises.

The bungalow, built in Tudor style of architecture which is mostly found in Great Britain, is one of its kind in Pune.

The exquisitely designed bungalow has wooden flooring, a narrow wooden staircase, typical of British architecture and massive bookshelves that stretch on almost to the roof. The two-storied bungalow is built in a load-bearing system with the use of coursed Stone Ashlar masonry with lime mortar. The serene interiors are complete with ceramic tiles and wooden ceiling.

For many years, large portions of the bungalow remained unused as the main activities of the Archive shifted to its present building in the 1990s. A significant rule of restoration that was applied throughout the project was to make maximum use of salvaged materials. In the first phase, all the later additions and alterations were carefully removed that let the structure breathe after many years.

“We wanted to restore the unique architecture and aesthetic value to bring back the glory of the olden times. The objective was to conserve the heritage structure and make it contemporary so that it can be accessible for citizens and film lovers. The digital library and personalised viewing spaces are the steps in this direction. We want this place to be a hub of cultural activities where film lovers can come and engage in meaningful conversations”, said Prakash Magdum, Director, NFAI.