Mapping Bombay's metamorphosis from imperial fort city to modern megapolis

From Koli fisherfolk to colonial planners, and from Bollywood stars to textile barons, many have shaped the western Indian city's landscape and identity.

The city is ever-evolving, the past giving way to the future, birthing new guises and blurring the old. From fishing nets to ports and mills to malls, Bombay has constantly reinvented itself and remained a city in flux.

A new exhibition 'Bombay Framed' charts the city's shape-shifting passage through the centuries using a stunning array of paintings, photographs and multimedia prints.

More than 100 images spanning three centuries have an extraordinary range that document the city in its full diversity from the elite worlds of Zoroastrian merchants and cinema stars to working-class lives of ordinary citizens.

"Together they invite us to see the city itself as a kind of artwork: layered, complex and made up of many different experiences," Gyan Prakash, curator of the exhibition, told the BBC.

Image 4: DAG A detailed early twentieth-century cartographic rendering that captures Bombay at a moment of urban consolidation. Prepared by the Bombay Improvement Trust. DAG

The map shows land reclamation and growing infrastructure in early 20th Century Bombay

Image 5: DAG This oil on canvas by Henry Martens (1828–60) shows the Bombay Fusiliers regiment receiving medals from the commanding officer’s wife. Oil on canvas, c. 1853 DAG

A ceremonial military scene from early British rule in Bombay

According to Prakash there are a few key moments when Bombay really changed - in the 1830s and 40s, when reclamations and bunds joined the seven separate islets into a single island city.

Two decades later, in the 1860s, the fort walls came down, paving the way for imperial buildings to come up which gave the city its distinct colonial identity.

In the 1920s and 30s the Marine Drive corniche, with its Art Deco buildings was constructed, birthing a uniquely modern architectural style that departed from the earlier Victorian Gothic character.

Since the 2000s the city's planners have been preoccupied with building more utilitarian infrastructure, with new sea bridges and coastal roads, radically transforming how the city looks today.

Image 6: DAG An albumen print depicting Elphinstone Circle (now Horniman Circle), a key commercial and administrative precinct in late-nineteenth century Bombay. Produced by the Bourne & Shepherd studio. DAG

An early photograph of Horniman Circle, a key colonial-era commercial hub

Image 7: DAG This chromolithograph by M V Dhurandhar (1867–1944) shows a scene with a tram that once formed an integral part of Bombay's streetscape. DAG

This print by MV Dhurandhar captures Bombay's trams before they were phased out in the 1960s

Through its history, Bombay has remained a city of stark contradictions and wild extremes - luxury towers jostling for space with shanty towns, the restless chaos of the city standing in contrast to the calmness of the ocean surrounding it and heritage structures co-existing with the city's modern pursuits.

This is a city of ancient caves but also of modern mills and atomic research facilities, which makes it impossible for two people to view it in the same way.

Image 8: DAG A painting of the ancient rock-cut Karla caves. It reflects early nationalist interest in India’s architectural past. M.K. Parandekar (1877–1961). DAG

The Karla Caves are among many ancient rock-cut caves around Mumbai

Image 9: DAG This photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) records the Atomic Energy establishment at Trombay (now Bhabha Atomic Research Centre). DAG

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay was part of India's post-independence scientific build-up

But a city's soul is animated not just by its buildings and structures but also by the people who inhabit it. And the exhibition tries to tell its story through the everyday life of its many denizens.

"Even the early British picturesque views of the sea and boats include human figures, reminding us that the environment was always shaped by human activity," says Prakash.

From Parsi philanthropists and Maharashtrian nobility to mill workers and marginalised migrant settlers, the photographs showcase the city's many faces that stake a claim to the making of Bombay.

The commissioned portraits of Parsi elite "reflect the patronage networks and social aspirations of the community" which formed the mercantile fabric of the city in the early 20th century.

In stark contrast, works by artists like Chittaprosad, who was known for his sharp social and political critique, depict working-class life.

Image 10: DAG An example of early modern portrait in Bombay. The painting reflects the growing prominence of local artists within colonial art institutions. DAG

Parsi merchants and elites supported local artists in colonial institutions

Image 11: DAG Chittaprosad (1915–78): A Fish Seller in Bombay. A vibrant rendering of ink on paper laid on paper, 1947. DAG

Artist Chittaprosad's sketch of a fish seller shows life on Bombay's margins

While Bombay brought cinema to India, cinema lived on its streets and not just on celluloid. The exhibition has a vivid line up of vintage film posters from the 1950s and 60s that were once pasted across the city's walls, as well as photographs by JH Thakkar, founder of India Photo Studio in Dadar.

"His moody, meticulously composed silver gelatin portraits shaped how audiences saw stars like Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Dev Anand, Meena Kumari and Dilip Kumar," the curatorial note says.

Image 13: DAG Black and white photograph of Madhubala by JH Thakker (1923–2003) on
Silver gelatin print on paper, 1950-60s. DAG

The exhibition features a vivid collection of film posters from the 1950s and 60s

Image 15: DAG Black and white photograph of Dev Anand by JH Thakker (1923–2003) on
Silver gelatin print on paper, 1950-60s. DAG

Bollywood star Dev Anand in a black-and-white portrait by JH Thakkar

The city's name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in the mid-1990s. Authorities said that was to shed its colonial legacy, making the older name politically charged for some.

Prakash says their exhibition is titled "Bombay Framed" rather than "Mumbai Framed" simply because most of the images come from a time when the city was officially known as Bombay.

"For Marathi speakers, it was always Mumbai. I'm agnostic about the name, as are many people, which reflects the city's long history of dual names and multiple perspectives. It really only becomes contentious when the issue is politicised."

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How Bombay went from a fort city to a bustling metropolis

Mapping Bombay's metamorphosis from imperial fort city to modern megapolis

How Bombay went from a fort city to a bustling metropolis

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