Regal Circle and the Regal Cinema

This roundabout shows two faces of Mumbai's history. In the centre, the Wellington Fountain of 1865 recalls the visits of Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, who camped around here in 1801 and 1804. Opposite, the stone building with turrets was once a home for sailors and is now the headquarters of the Maharashtra Police.

1The record-breaking cinema

But the star is the Regal Cinema. It opened on 14 October 1933 with a Laurel and Hardy film. It was Bombay's first great Art Deco cinema, with interiors by the Czech artist Karl Schara and a stepped facade that broke with the Gothic and Indo-Saracenic buildings around it. It is considered India's first air-conditioned cinema, and it had an underground car park with a lift, something unheard of at the time.

2The city of cinema

Mumbai is the capital of Indian cinema, what the world calls Bollywood. It all began near here: in July 1896 the Lumière cinematograph was shown at Watson's Hotel, a few minutes' walk away, and in 1913 Dadasaheb Phalke premiered 'Raja Harishchandra', the first Indian feature film, in the city. Today the studios are in the north, but the old cinemas of the south are still standing.

A fountain for a Victorian duke and an Art Deco temple for the stars.

3What to look for

• The stepped facade of the Regal Cinema.
• The Wellington Fountain in the middle of the roundabout.
• The police headquarters, a former sailors' home.