Mumbai: ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’ fans now have an opportunity to step into the location where parts of the film were shot – Sanjay Dutt collapsing a moment before attempting to dissect a dead body and Dr Asthana addressing medical students in the anatomy lecture hall. Both the scenes were shot inside the city’s largest and oldest public hospital — Grant Medical College (GMC) and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals — which is now open for heritage walks.
The walk started on Monday, one-and-a-half-months after it was announced by the hospital administration. Seven heritage spots have been picked to showcase the hospital’s noteworthy past. A place of special importance is where bacteriologist Waldemar Haffkine researched and discovered the vaccine against bubonic plague in 1893.
The hospital dean, Dr Pallavi Saple, an alumna of GMC and Sir JJ Hospital, has been working with representatives of ‘Friends of Grant Medical College (GMC) and Sir JJ Group of Hospital Trust’, an alumni group, to build a museum on the premises and organise the walks.
“Well-known doctors have studied and given lectures in the anatomy hall. There are many aspects of the institution that people are not aware of – the walks will illuminate them. Today’s walk is just the beginning. We plan multiple walks in different languages,” said Dr Saple.
The hour-long walk had close to thirty participants including doctors, medical students and nurses, which started at the old building, built in 1845. “It is gothic in style – the original college building classified as Grade 2B heritage structure,” said Dr Rewat Kaninde, the medical officer, who led Monday’s walk.
The other six spots were — Pharmacy building (1891), Boys Common Room (1866), Pathology Building (1928), Pathology Museum (1928), Anatomy Building and Museum (1902) and Anatomy Hall (1902).
Visitors were shown the building where Robert Koch, eminent scientist who had earlier discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, worked. “The place where he worked will be renovated soon and included in the heritage walk. Koch’s work on Vibrio cholerae was done in two rooms of the old animal house behind coroner’s court in the hospital’s premises,” he said. Koch was part of the German Plague Commission and sent to Mumbai during the plague epidemic in 1897. “His research confirmed for the first time that rat flea was one of the causes of plague. He also worked on cholera vaccine at the hospital in 1902.”
Dr Kaninde then pointed to old trees re-transplanted when separate wings were being added to the hospital. The 3,000-square feet boys’ common room is being renovated currently to set up a temporary museum. “It once housed the hospital’s infectious diseases ward – a leprosy ward and eventually a TB ward. We are going to have the museum here till the old building is ready for the permanent museum,” he said.
“Heritage walks are very popular in Mumbai. We plan to customise the walks eventually, in categories such as Hospital Walk, Past Students’ Walk, or College Walk. It will be open to the public too who are interested in the Indian medicine history,” said Dr Saple.