“Why visit London, visit Lonavala!” I heard my ten-year-old nephew chant as we cruised up the Western Ghats along the Old Mumbai-Pune highway on our way to Lonavala, the not-so-quiet hill station perched on the north-western edge of India’s Deccan Plateau.

The aroma of freshly prepared idli vada and masala dosa nudged me from my mid-morning nap and soon my mum, sister, her two kids and I were digging into a king-sized brunch consisting of idli, dosa, mendhu vada and freshly brewed Indian coffee.

A full hour later, as we piled back in our car, my niece pointed to the billboard from which her brother had been reciting his chant earlier in the day: “Why visit London, Visit Lonavala!”

Curious to learn more, we followed the signs which led us to the Celebrity Wax Museum designed on the lines of Madam Tussaud in London, U.K.

Growing up in Mumbai, Lonavala just 111km away, was a go-to place to soak up the chill mountain air. It is home to, among other things, world famous chikki and a sanatorium where TB patients go to recover, away from the smog and salty air of the coast. A wax museum was certainly not part of our must-see-must-do itinerary.

Large banyan and peepal trees welcomed us as we reached the foyer of the flat building encircled by shops selling chikki.

Founded by Sunil Kandaloor, a wax artist from the southern Indian state of Kerala, a clear south Indian bias is seen in the number and selection of the celebrities throughout the museum. That said, crowd pullers with universal appeal like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Sai Baba, A.R. Rahman and Benazir Bhutto are among some of the famous personalities featured there.

Considered by critics to be a rip-off of the wax museum in London, the Celebrity Wax Museum does offer value for money. For a mere Rs100 it gives visitors a chance to get as close as they want to Bollywood legends and public figures. A no-touch policy is strictly enforced with the caveat that a Rs25,000 fine will be imposed on breaking it. Photographs can be liberally taken, although flash photography is not permitted.

The guide who greeted us at the door was happy to volunteer information at no extra cost. Each wax sculpture, she says, costs Rs100,000 to make, taking a month’s worth of effort and weighs in at approximately 45 pounds. The museum boasts 35 exhibits spread over an area of 4,500 square feet.

We stroll through the single level structure taking pictures. It was heartening to see that the frail and petit Mother Teresa attracted as large a crowd as Jackie Shroff, who I mistook for an actual human being leaning by the wall. The life-size figure of the late former prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, decked out in a simple white dupatta also came as a pleasant surprise. While Adolf Hitler was largely ignored, that level of disdain was not meted out to Saddam Hussein. There was a lot of interest among the male visitors who wanted to take pictures alongside the former dictator.

In less than 45 minutes our tour was over. We sauntered out to the nearby shops to buy the famous Lonavala chikki, content at killing two birds with one stone. For those who cannot visit London, Lonavala is a good second-best alternative, that too at a bargain! For once the billboard spoke the truth.