Yesteryear's Bollywood actress Asha Parekh was stuck 15 hours in the city's life-stopping floods, with barely enough water to moisten her lips.
But after surviving a harrowing experience, she salutes Mumbai's spirit and resilience.
Asha Parekh and veteran Hindi film character actress Shammi were in one of the thousands of vehicles stuck in a road last week when the city of 15 million was deluged after the worst rainfall in 100 years.
"Yes, Shammi aunty and I were stuck in my car for 15 hours without food, sleep and barely enough water to moisten our lips," Asha Parekh told IANS, still in disbelief over the experience.
The Mumbai-born former heroine of many romantic hits of the 1960s and 1970s could not believe this was the city she had grown up in.
"I was born and brought up in Mumbai. But never in my life have I seen what I saw happening in the last few days... The city we are so proud of and felt so safe in was plunged into an unthinkable crisis... And I hope no one ever goes through what I did.
"I wondered if we would ever get out of the car alive. Was this really the Mumbai I had grown up in? That thought occurred to me more than once as I sat in the car..."
For her Tuesday began as just another day when she was to drive to town for some work with Shammi. It was raining when they left, but they thought nothing of what was normal during monsoons.
"Little did we know then that we would return home only the next day."
In town, after lunch with friends, the two women finally headed home at 3 p.m., a journey that was to last 15 hours.
"It was virtually one of those water-water-everywhere (not a drop to drink) situations. Our car was stuck in traffic for the entire night. There was no movement and we couldn't step outside since there was waist-deep water outside."
At the Mahim Creek, the car went further under water.
"The two of us, and the driver just sat frozen in the car, not knowing what to do. I prayed especially for Shammi aunty who is very old and unwell."
After the nightmare was over, Asha Parekh thought about the way Mumbaikars rallied around those who needed help.
"It made me regain my faith in our city. People of every neighbourhood served tea and biscuits to all the stranded and disoriented commuters. Residents opened their doors to commuters who couldn't proceed further.
"Though I was caught in a nightmare, I think I now have more faith in Mumbai's powers of resilience than ever before. Yes, I could've been stranded for longer in my car. But I wasn't. I reached home safe."
The actress' relatives from Pakistan were greatly relieved to see her home. "I am glad I am alive. And I am glad this city is what it is. Otherwise we wouldn't have bounced back so quickly after such a natural calamity."
-- Edited by RJ_Sonia at 12:43, 2005-08-01
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Not all’s well with Aftab Shivdasani. The actor is hospitalised. When we tried to contact him last, he informed us through SMS, “I am in hospital. I have been diagnosed with Leptospirosis. I have been here for three days now. It happened because of the bad monsoon.” So, it’s a lot of ‘What’s up doc?’ for Affy these days. We take this opportunity to wish him a quick recovery.
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Bipasha Basu: “ I’ve been unable to locate John. He was shooting at Film City and had packed up last night but stayed at the studio since it wasn’t safe to travel; he waited till 6am and then left for home thinking the roads would clear up by the time. His make-up artist has reached home by 7:30am, but John and his driver are untraceable. I think their phones are dead. My cell is dead too. I don’t think anyone can reach my place, the area here is totally submerged in water. There’s no electricity in my house since last night. No drinking water, or toilet water either. I can’t even charge my cell, and the landline phones are dead. Soon I will be cut off from communication. I don’t think anyone can help! ...”
Urmila Matondkar: “I was one of the lucky people who was at home, so I actually enjoyed the rains. But I heard it was terrible for people who were stuck while traveling. I’ve been seeing the horrible images on TV. Our infrastructure needs to improve drastically to deal with these disaster situations. We are supposed to be an international city after all.”
Farah Khan wife of DJ Aqeel and sister of actor Zayed Khan was stranded at designer friend Anna Singh’s place in Bandra with her baby. And no baby food (naturally). But she braved the waters and managed to get home.
Kareena Kapoor: “Thankfully, I’m still in Bangkok, but I heard the situation is pathetic in Mumbai. Our flight is just not taking off from here. I hope everyone out there is safe and indoors, it’s so hard to even get in touch with anyone. The mobile networks seem to be jammed. It’s madness back home.”
Manisha Koirala: “I’m so glad I wasn’t outdoors, because there wouldn’t be any way for me to get home otherwise. The area in completely submerged and there’s no way to commute. It’s complete chaos.”
Amrita Rao: “I’m glad I didn’t have to venture out anywhere. Thankfully, I stayed indoors. I’m praying that the city returns to normal very soon.”
Celina Jaitley: “I was about to go to town for some work, somehow, thanks to my puppy dog - who started crying - I had to stay back. I called in the vet to come and check in on my puppy, and in half hour I heard Mumbai was submerged. I just got saved!”
Aamir Khan was stuck for over two hours in a jam, bumper to bumper traffic and no way to get out of it. But the star smiled through it all. Even signing some autographs for those fans with any energy left and giving a byte to a news channel.
Amrita Arora: “I’m fine, but I haven’t slept a wink all night. My sister left Goregaon at 8:30 pm, it’s been fifteen hours since then, but we haven’t heard from her. Her cell is also unreachable, we are all worried sick about her.”
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The rains that have pounded Mumbai for the past week have forced Bollywood studios to close and kept moviegoers at home, causing losses estimated at 500 million rupees ($11.5 million) to the world’s largest movie-making industry, trade analysts said on Sunday. At least 12 scheduled movie shoots were cancelled while cinemas across the Indian city were empty as people struggled simply to stay alive. "Entertainment will take a back seat, it is the last thing on peoples’ minds in such a situation and box-office collections will take a dive," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
"The film industry has suffered losses of well over 500 million rupees through these rains," said industry analyst Vikas Mohan. "This is due to weak box-office performances, temporary closure of many studios, cancellation of shoots and damage to lighting, costume and film equipment in studio warehouses," Mohan added. The three low-budget movies released over the weekend, "Yahaan" (Here), "Sehar" (Stroll) and "Sade-sath Phere" (Seven and a half ceremonial marriage circles), all suffered from poor openings and weak ticket sales, analysts said.
The year has already been a tough one for Bollywood. Industry analysts estimated the Hindi-language film industry suffered losses of 1.5 billion rupees ($34 million) in the first half of 2005 compared with 800 million rupees for the same period last year due to poor box office takings. Of the 105 films produced between January and June this year, only 10 were successful or recovered their money at the box office, said Adarsh.
Last week’s cloudburst hit the western and central suburban districts of Mumbai, where the entire Bollywood industry, including stars, producers and studios, is situated.
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The rains that ravaged Mumbai for the past week brought Bollywood to a standstill, causing losses of approximately Rs 50 crore to the world's largest entertainment industry, 75 per cent of which was virtually closed down due to the heavy downpour.
At least 12 scheduled movie shoots were cancelled due to flooding in the studios, while cinema halls across the city were empty as people who struggled for mere survival, preferred staying at home.
The worst sufferers were the producers of daily soaps on different channels who generally shoot a bank of episodes every day.
Trade analysts said box office collections took a dive in view of the unprecedented heavy rains. The box office collections of films which were released on July 29, three days after the deluge, were badly hit.
''Coupled with weak box office performances, temporary closure of many studios, cancellation of shoots and damage to lighting, costume and film equipment in studio warehouses resulted in losses,'' trade sources informed.
The western and central suburbs of Mumbai, where the entire Bollywood industry including stars, producers and studios is situated, recorded a rainfall of 945 mm in 24 hours, the highest rainfall in 100 years.
Shootings at Film City, the area set aside by the state government for the creation of movie sets and for film shoots, was halted. Three other studios, Filmistan, Filmalay and Shankaraman Studios, in the western suburbs, were closed, as no one was able to reach them due to the rains.
Most stars were caught up in the chaos, spending hours stuck in their cars trying to reach home on Tuesday night and Wednesday. Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan were stuck in traffic due to waterlogging, while actors like John Abharam and Aftab Shivdasani had to walk to their destinations in waist deep water.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan also suffered as his two bungalows were flooded, damaging his personal belongings. He also had to go through a power cut and jamming of telephone lines. Yash Chopra's bungalow too had no electricity for two days.
