Mukesh Mills- Colaba, Mumbai.

      The fear of the unknown isn’t new and has forever intrigued us to dig a little deeper and find out more about what could be a figment of our imagination or something from the other world. Our series of most haunted places gives a sneak peek of places that have spooked many for something or someone strange. Today I will tell you about Mukesh Mills, a location that you may have seen in several Bollywood movies and ad commercials. But did you know this place is believed to be haunted? So much so that crew members hesitate to shoot here after sunset. Not just that, several actors have felt something eerie here and are spooked out or vowed to never shoot here again. So what is it about this place that could be the reason for its haunting?

      Mukesh Textile Mills was established by the East India Company in 1870s. After a fire broke out, killing thousands of people, this mill was shut down on 18th January. The ruins of this deserted mill served the film industry and this place became a hotspot for haunted shoots. However, the scary and dark history of this Mill is enough to scare every soul who dares to enter the area after sunset. Stories of a possessed actress and uncomfortable eerie interiors are unusual to the mill. Who knew that a real haunted place in Mumbai would serve as a story inspiration for mainstream Bollywood!

      For those of you who have watched the Shah Rukh Khan starrer “Om Shanti Om”, this story may sound oddly familiar. Even though the mill remained shut for work ever since the fire, it became a shooting location for several movies, TV series and commercials. The song Jee Karda from Badlapur, a few action sequences in Salman’s Wanted and the famous Jumma Chumma Dede song from Hum have been shot here. But there have been stories about things getting lost, crew members hearing voices and actors getting possessed. Bipasha Basu who shot here for one of her movies too felt something strange. She felt as if something did not let her say her dialogues in one particular shot location but she would be fine in any other part of the mill. Even Varun Dhawan felt the chills while filming Jee Karda and the crew would stick together and wrap up before it got dark. TV actress Kamya Punjabi vowed never to shoot here again after she heard about one of the girls there getting possessed and talking to the crew in a manly voice asking them to leave the premises.