History & Legacy | NCPA Mumbai

History and Legacy

To read the story of the NCPA's development from its beginnings in 1965 until today, click on the links below

1965-1975 First steps - the genesis of a pioneering cultural institution for India

It was in 1965 that Dr Jamshed J Bhabha, philanthropist, scion of an illustrious Mumbai family and a leading figure at Bombay House, wrote a letter to the Dorabji Tata Trust outlining the need for a pioneering institution in the area of arts and humanities that would safeguard India’s rich heritage of performing arts for future generations. Dr Bhabha pointed out that in India, perhaps more than in any other nation “music and the related arts constituted a most important part of the country’s 5,000-year-old cultural and spiritual legacy”.

Land had to be found for the new institution, and the Government of Maharashtra in 1965 proposed that in view of the shortage of land in Bombay itself, the arts centre should be built near the Ajanta Caves. Dr Bhabha rejected this idea, favouring a city centre location that would be accessible to all. He came up with the ingenious (if expensive) idea of reclaiming land from the sea, opening up a superbly located site of 8 acres (about 32,000 square metres) at Nariman Point.

With the State Government’s blessing, the site was leased for 99 years for the purposes of research and training in the performing arts, the presentation of Indian and international art forms, the promotion of excellence and the preservation of India’s rich cultural heritage. An initial sponsorship grant of Rupees 4 milion was given by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust to establish the NCPA.

While its Nariman Point site was being developed, a temporary setup was established at 89 Bhulabhai Desai Road, which housed a small auditorium, listening rooms and practice facilities. This was inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 29th December 1969.

1975-1985 American dreams with Indian horizons – the creation of the Tata Theatre

Work on the Nariman Point facilities continued, with the construction of the Little Theatre, a recording studio, a research block, a dance academy, art gallery and offices. These were officially inaugurated on 5 May 1975. Meanwhile, during the late 1960s Jamshed J Bhabha made extensive visits to the US, visiting new arts facilities such as the Kennedy Center in New York and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles, meeting architects and leading arts figures in America, including Zubin Mehta, then chief conductor of the LA Philharmonic.

Mehta introduced Dr Bhabha to Welton Becket, architect of the Los Angeles Music Center, who subsequently visited Mumbai to advise on the site of a concert hall. It was Becket who persuaded Sir Dinshaw Petit (the third baronet) to donate the splendid 18th century Italian baroque staircase made of white marble at the old Petit Hall, which was about to be demolished to make way for a new house. Becket’s intention was to install it in a modern theatre foyer “like ancient jewels worn on a young lady’s dress”.

Sir Dinshaw also donated four superb Murano glass chandeliers from Venice, which now embellish the Tata Theatre.

Welton Becket’s untimely death in 1969 led to Dr Bhabha returning to the US to seek another architect. It was at this point that he was introduced to Philip Johnson, one of the foremost modernist architects of his day, who now embarked on several trips to India to study the country’s performing arts traditions and to devise a theatre that would provide the most effective stage for music and dance.

Meanwhile, Dr Bhabha had been so impressed with the acoustics of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House in Washington DC that he immediately engaged the theatre’s acoustic consultant, Professor Cyril Harris, to work on the new theatre in Bombay with Philip Johnson. This was achieved with a generous grant of $ 200,000 from the Ford Foundation to cover the costs of providing the basic design for construction.

The 1000-seat Tata Theatre, with its auditorium styled as a classical amphitheatre, superb acoustics, and the audience arranged in fan-shaped seating around a central group of performers to ensure excellent sight lines from every seat in the house, was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 11th October 1980. Four years later, when visiting the Tata Theatre again for a performance of Rossini’s opera, The Barber of Seville, she remarked to Dr Jamshed Bhabha that she felt it a pity that this theatre did not have an adequate orchestra pit in front of the stage, and that “a National Centre should have a theatre designed to feature opera also.”

1985-2000 Final stages – paving the way for Jamshed Bhabha Theatre

Since 2000 A vision fulfilled – the NCPA today

Since 1970 Selected performances – past and present