Scores of years before the Kala Ghoda precinct was identified as the art district of the city, this extreme end of ‘Native Town’ was the hub which witnessed over half a century of cultural evolution as it gave rise to the most prominent musicians, writers, actors, painters, filmmakers, sculptors and singers of their times. Finally in 1911, the Royal Opera House was inaugurated as if it was the jewel in the crown that this area had developed in the preceding five decades. Louis Rousselet, a French traveler, writer and photographer visiting Mumbai of the times felt that the art scene was so vibrant in this area that he likened it to Rue Breda of Paris’s Montmartre.