On the floor no more?
The shutting down of popular discotheques across the city leave party-goers in a lurch
There's a sense of gloom amongst party-goers that the next time they begin to hit a discotheque regularly, it might just pull its shutters down. For good. For a while, there's been some talk about discos across the city bowing down to posh lounges. In the last couple of months, several lounges have mushroomed all over Mumbai — either new ones coming up or replacing old pubs. It starts with one closing doors for renovation. Soon, however, you find out it was all hogwash. It was never meant to return.
In the recent past, two of Mumbai's most popular discotheques — Red Light and Poly Esthers — downed their shutters for good. And a sea of young crowd drowned in mourning. Devang Sharma, a 25-year-old corporate professional, says, "We loved going to Poly Esthers. We were completely at a loss when it shut down for renovation. It was a blow to the nightlife scene in the city." Earlier, clubs such as Fire 'N' Ice, Poison, Bed Lounge and Bar, Seven, J49, Squeeze, Razzberry Rhinoceros, among others, had shut down leaving the party crowd in a lurch.
Bishnu Das, vice president of T.G.I.F Mumbai, explains, "For any disco or club to sustain, they need to operate late night. And even though they start at 10 pm, they have to shut down by 1 am, which is honestly not great timing for businesses." Often revised rents by owners also force shutting down of discotheques. He reasons, "Most places are on lease and they keep paying the old rents. The land-owners would rather rent out to new businesses on higher rents. Liquor prices have also shot up. Imported liquor has gone up to 40-60 per cent rise. The cost affects everyone. How would you run a business if the place is open only for three to four hours?"
A source from the F & B industry adds, "A lot of discos would remain open till 3-4 am in the morning. Nobody would say this openly. But now the law has become stricter, so there's no getting away from the 1 am rule. It's no longer a fancy business!"
The shutting down of popular discotheques across the city leave party-goers in a lurch
There's a sense of gloom amongst party-goers that the next time they begin to hit a discotheque regularly, it might just pull its shutters down. For good. For a while, there's been some talk about discos across the city bowing down to posh lounges. In the last couple of months, several lounges have mushroomed all over Mumbai — either new ones coming up or replacing old pubs. It starts with one closing doors for renovation. Soon, however, you find out it was all hogwash. It was never meant to return.
In the recent past, two of Mumbai's most popular discotheques — Red Light and Poly Esthers — downed their shutters for good. And a sea of young crowd drowned in mourning. Devang Sharma, a 25-year-old corporate professional, says, "We loved going to Poly Esthers. We were completely at a loss when it shut down for renovation. It was a blow to the nightlife scene in the city." Earlier, clubs such as Fire 'N' Ice, Poison, Bed Lounge and Bar, Seven, J49, Squeeze, Razzberry Rhinoceros, among others, had shut down leaving the party crowd in a lurch.
Bishnu Das, vice president of T.G.I.F Mumbai, explains, "For any disco or club to sustain, they need to operate late night. And even though they start at 10 pm, they have to shut down by 1 am, which is honestly not great timing for businesses." Often revised rents by owners also force shutting down of discotheques. He reasons, "Most places are on lease and they keep paying the old rents. The land-owners would rather rent out to new businesses on higher rents. Liquor prices have also shot up. Imported liquor has gone up to 40-60 per cent rise. The cost affects everyone. How would you run a business if the place is open only for three to four hours?"
A source from the F & B industry adds, "A lot of discos would remain open till 3-4 am in the morning. Nobody would say this openly. But now the law has become stricter, so there's no getting away from the 1 am rule. It's no longer a fancy business!"
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