Early deadline puts brakes on nightlife

[1]

hroom, two popular nightspots in the city are witnessing a dip in their business

They already had a “lean” New Year eve post the gangrape incident and then the chill made it worse for club owners. And now to “beef up” security in the city, the home ministry has ordered all discotheques to stop playing music by 12.30 am and shut down by 1 am.

Actor Arjun Rampal, whose posh and “members only” nightclub Lap in Hotel Samrat is losing money following restrictions, says, “Shutting down nightclubs early is not a solution to the growing crimes against women. We’ve been asked to shut the club very early each night. So basically when our regular visitors are ready to visit our club we’ve to shut down. Even on New Year’s Eve we were asked to close the club at 1.30 pm. We’re losing heavily because of the current anti-nightlife campaign in Delhi. I’d be willing to bear the losses if I was convinced that my nightclub is a purveyor of crime on the streets of Delhi. Despite closing everything early, you couldn’t stop a rape that happened on December 31. You need more protection, more people.”
Riyaaz Amlani of city’s popular nightspot Shroom adds, “The business is finished in Delhi, which had overtaken Mumbai in its nightlife. Now it’s behind Bengaluru. It’s getting difficult to sustain.”
Even a hot event like Indo-Pak series couldn’t salvage the situation for them. “We have the biggest screen in town and an Indo-Pak combat is usually a jam-packed affair. But this time even that couldn’t pull crowds. We lost around 20-25 per cent business to people’s lack of faith in the system and the dip in temperature. We have the license to serve till 1 am but we are forced to close by 12.30 am,” adds Ishan Grover, marketing head, Lemp Brewpub & Kitchen.
The business that they used to get after 6 pm has been badly affected and they take their last order at 11.30 pm at Pint Lounge in Greater Kailash.
“New Year was seriously very sad for us. The crowd is thin and we are registering a drop of 10-15 percent in our sales,” says Ankit Malik, director, Pint Lounge.
Ishaan adds that a dip in business has a ripple effect on the parallel industries. The rentals are sky-high, the fees for various licenses plus other expenses are making it difficult to survive.
“We have to pay to our DJs, we employ a huge staff of personnel, executives, waiters, bouncers and valets. How long can we go like this? Now that the weather is improving and Lohri is around the corner, we are hoping to see clubbers back in action,” says Ishan.
Although Café Morrison in South Extension has experienced lesser sales and their business saw a depression of as much as 35-40 per cent, it’s director Sidharth Talwar is not complaining. He says, “People are scared to step out. Cold has only added to the woes. We had to accept the New Year’s eve as any other day as people were not in a celebratory mood. We also avidly protested against the brutality the girl suffered. But as every night leads to a day, I believe we will bounce back.”