38 minutes agoAuthor: Shaily Acharya
For most fans, ‘Mannat’ is not just a house. It is the place where Shah Rukh Khan appears on the balcony and turns a Mumbai street into a sea of cheering fans. But for the actor himself, the sea-facing bungalow carries a much deeper story.
It is very close to his heart. The story began with a dream, when ‘Mannat’ was someone else’s property.
Recently, SRK is not living in ‘Mannat’ due to ongoing renovation, and so he is unable to wave to his fans from the balcony. This has upset some of his fans.
‘Bhai Mannat bechne wale ho kya?’, asks X user
During his latest #AskSRK session on X, a fan jokingly told Shah Rukh Khan to sell Mannat if he was no longer going to appear on its famous balcony. The actor responded with his trademark wit.
“I’m having a new gallery built now, so I’ll shine even more from the new gallery. At the same time, I hope I’ll have something to hold on to,” Shah Rukh wrote.
The actor’s reply came as Mannat continues to undergo renovation. Shah Rukh had also skipped his traditional balcony appearance on his 60th birthday because of the ongoing work and security concerns. He had apologised to fans at the time.
But the story of Mannat goes back nearly three decades, to a time when Shah Rukh was already a successful actor but was still dreaming of owning a home in Mumbai.
When Shah Rukh first saw the house
SRK usually waves to large crowds on his birthday and festivals like Eid.
In 1996, Shah Rukh was shooting for Yes Boss in Mumbai. The song “Chand Taare Tod Laaun” was filmed around Pali Hill, with a beautiful sea-facing bungalow called Villa Vienna featuring in the sequence.
The house caught Shah Rukh’s attention.
Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic mansion, Mannat, was originally built as a queen’s mansion.Oral history and city records indicate it was built in the late 1800s by Raja Bijai Sen (the Raja of Mandi, a former princely state in present-day Himachal Pradesh)
The dream was still far from reality. Shah Rukh was living in a rented home in Mumbai at the time. But the actor had already imagined himself owning the property.
During the shoot, he reportedly pointed towards the bungalow and told Juhi Chawla, “Ek din yeh ghar mera hoga” (one day, this house will be mine).
Choreographer Ahmed Khan later recalled that the shooting unit was even shooed away by the bungalow’s watchman. According to Khan, Shah Rukh jokingly asked whether he should buy the house so they could shoot there without being stopped.
Mannat was earlier ‘Villa Vienna’
Following the death of Raja Bijai Sen in 1902, the princely state sold the property to a Parsi gentleman named Perin Maneckji Batliwala in 1915. He named it ‘Villa Vienna.’
Five years later, Shah Rukh’s dream became reality.
By then, films such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham had established him as one of Bollywood’s biggest stars.
In 2001, he bought the sea-facing bungalow, which was then known as Villa Vienna. Reports have put the purchase price at around ₹13.32 crore. He later renamed it Mannat, a word associated with a wish or prayer being fulfilled.
However, buying the property was only the beginning.
‘Mannat is Gauri’s creation’
Shah Rukh has often credited his wife, Gauri Khan, with transforming Mannat into the luxurious home it is today.
The actor has recalled that after buying the property, he had spent almost all his savings and could not even afford to furnish it properly. Gauri, who has a background in interior design, took charge of turning the old structure into their family home.
Shah Rukh has described Mannat as Gauri’s creation, saying that he bought the shell while she gave it a soul.
Today, Mannat is among Mumbai’s most recognisable celebrity homes. Its famous balcony has become almost as iconic as the actor himself, with thousands of fans gathering outside on his birthday and other special occasions.
The Ajmer Sharif visit that stayed with him
There is another unusual chapter in Shah Rukh’s journey that he has connected with his rise to fame, which is a visit to Ajmer Sharif with his mother, Lateef Fatima Khan.
During the promotions of Happy New Year in 2014, Shah Rukh recalled that his mother was very unwell when they went to Ajmer Sharif to pray for her. They were carrying a chadar for the shrine, and his mother had given him ₹5,000 to keep safely.
He later realised that the money was missing.
While searching for it, Shah Rukh said that a fakir at the dargah asked him whether he had lost something. The man then asked if it was ₹5,000.
According to Shah Rukh, the fakir told him: “You have come here; you will not leave empty-handed. You have lost ₹5,000, but you will earn ₹500 crore.”
At the time, Shah Rukh said he did not necessarily believe in such predictions. But years later, he remembered the encounter as something extraordinary that had happened to him.
‘It isn’t about the money’
For Shah Rukh, however, the Ajmer story was never simply about becoming wealthy.
He said the visit was connected to his mother and the prayers they had gone there to offer. His mother Lateef Fatima Khan died in 1991, a year before Shah Rukh’s film career took off with Deewana.
SRK made his sensational Bollywood acting debut with ‘Deewana’ in the 1992.
Looking back, the actor said he believed the blessings of his mother and Ajmer Sharif had remained with him.
“I have the blessings of Ajmer Sharif upon me,” he recalled saying, while also explaining that the incident was not really about the money.
From losing ₹5,000 at a shrine to being told he would earn ₹500 crore, and from pointing at Villa Vienna and saying it would one day be his to actually buying it, Shah Rukh Khan’s story is filled with moments that he himself has connected with dreams, memories, faith and hard work.
And decades later, Mannat still stands in Mumbai, now with a new gallery being built for the same fans who have watched Shah Rukh turn a dream into a beautiful reality.
