Chawl balconies and a painted mill facade sit near the Y-Bridge flyover Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro filmed in 1983.
What Byculla looks like
A narrow bazaar lane runs east from , tomato crates and vegetable stalls set out under canvas awnings on both sides. Three and four storey buildings line it, wooden balconies stacked one above the next and shutters pulled down over the ground floor shops. The station's own stone building has arched windows and pointed gables, built between 1887 and 1891.
East of the station, chawl blocks carry timber balconies the full length of their upper floors, air conditioning units and tangled wiring hung off the fronts. Roller shutters close the ground floor units at street level, and corrugated sheet patches cover sections of the older roofing. The lanes between blocks are barely wide enough for two people to pass.
, the zoo and botanical garden, opens behind a stone arch topped with cast peacock and pelican figures. The 's white Palladian building stands just inside the gate, visible through the trees. rises a short walk south, twin brick Gothic Revival towers with GLORIA CHURCH lettered across the entrance archway, a residential tower under construction directly behind it.
stands on Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Marg, a single screen cinema with a tiled pitched roof and a stepped facade under hand painted film posters. South toward the docks, the former engineering works still stands, its corrugated iron sheds painted with the company's lettering the length of the wall.
Shot in Byculla
The Y-Bridge was the filming location for the flyover inauguration scene that opens Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, the 1983 comedy. Later in the film, Om Puri's character and Satish Shah's corpse share a scene on the same span, trying to get rid of a coffin.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, 1983
The flyover splits in a Y over the road junction, opposite the Mumbai Fire Brigade's headquarters. It was the filming location for the inauguration scene that opens Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, and the coffin scene between Om Puri's character and Satish Shah's corpse plays out on the same span. Street View
What Byculla can double for
Bowbazar in Kolkata, West Bengal
Bow Barracks' red brick blocks carry the same run of iron balconies and narrow footpaths as Byculla's chawls, built a few decades later in the 1900s to 1930s. The six blocks sit in a compound rather than fronting a public street, so a wide shot needs careful framing to hide the gaps between them. Keep the frame tight on one balcony run rather than pulling back across the compound, and dress out the green paint if the scene wants Bombay's plainer brick. Try searching red brick blocks now.
Ancoats' cotton mills carry the same painted lettering and multi storey brick sheds as Richardson and Cruddas, from the same late Victorian building boom. The English mills are solid load bearing brick rather than Bombay's riveted corrugated iron cladding, so a close texture shot gives the difference away fast. Shoot from a distance so the cladding looks like a flat wall, and keep the frame off the roofline where the iron sheets are most visible. Try searching painted mill lettering now.
Frere Hall's red brick Gothic Revival civic architecture is a close match for the arched windows and pointed gables on Byculla's railway station and museum, both built within a few decades of it. Saddar is a much larger, denser commercial district today, so a tight shot on one civic building reads better than a wide street view. Keep modern signage and traffic out of frame, since Saddar's streets carry far more vehicle congestion than Byculla's civic block does. Try searching red brick Gothic civic now.
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