Archive · 22 Sep 2026
Khalid Mohamed Recalls Secret Cinema Escapes and Schooldays
Khalid Mohamed writes about growing up in Bombay and loving movies.
His grandfather owned two cinemas in Kamathipura.
Khalid was not supposed to visit them because the area was considered unsafe for children.
A chauffeur and another helper secretly took him to watch old Hindi films.
His grandmother wanted him to receive an elite education and arranged for school officials to meet him.
Khalid was admitted to the third standard at the Cathedral and John Connon School.
At school, he discovered many Hollywood films, books and famous actors.
He continued secretly watching movies and dreamed of studying art in Paris.
When his grandfather died, that dream became difficult to pursue because of the small inheritance left to the family.
Khalid Mohamed recalls secretly watching films at his grandfather’s cinemas in Kamathipura.
His grandmother, Maaji, insisted he attend the Cathedral and John Connon School.
The school’s principal admitted him to the third standard after a garden tea meeting.
Movies, books and Hollywood stars shaped Mohamed’s childhood interests and ambitions.
After his grandfather died when Mohamed was 14, his dream of studying art in Paris faded.
- Who
- Journalist and author Khalid Mohamed, his grandmother Maaji, and his grandfather Suleman Cassum Mitha.
- What
- An excerpt from Mohamed’s memoir describing his childhood, secret cinema visits, schooling and early artistic ambitions.
- When
- During Mohamed’s childhood, until his grandfather died when Mohamed was 14.
- Where
- Bombay, including Kamathipura, Fort, Marine Drive and the Cathedral and John Connon School.
- Why
- Mohamed’s grandmother pursued an elite education for him, while he was drawn to films, books and art.
- Author
- Khalid Mohamed
- Memoir
- Not Quite Family – An Intimate Memoir of Bollywood
- Grandfather’s cinemas
- National, later renamed Moti, and Nishat
- Cinema location
- Kamathipura’s red-light area
- School
- The Cathedral and John Connon School
- School admission
- Mohamed was enrolled in the third standard
- Grandfather’s death
- He died after an attack of paralysis and failure of multiple organs when Mohamed was 14
- Publisher
- HarperCollins India