Busted and beaten

It's hardly a surprise that the mood at Bombay 72 Degrees East in Juhu was low on Saturday night.

Can a once-popular nightspot cling on to existence after a run-in with the law?

It8217;s hardly a surprise that the mood at Bombay 72 Degrees East in Juhu was low on Saturday night. After a rave party bust, the ambience at the erstwhile popular lounge bar was on the wrong side of sombre. We weren8217;t expecting huge crowds and we were right. The place was emptier than a wind-swept prairie. This is where, on October 4, around 200 people were detained for trafficking and using illegal substances like LSD, Ecstasy and hashish. Untill that fateful day, Bombay 72 Degrees East was a fairly popular, hence, crowded place. Could all its patrons have abandoned it so completely after that one debacle?

Inside the lounge, we had the pick of seats, since we seemed to be among the few people who decided to pay it a visit. It would also make placing our orders easy, we felt. As it turned out, it wasn8217;t. We ordered two Caprioskas, a Rum Experience and a scotch. The waiter came back in five minutes and told us that the Rum Experience was not available. So we ordered Sangria instead but that was not to be had either. And when they came and told us that nothing on the scotch list, except Royal Challenge was available, we8217;d had enough. Upon enquiring, the waiter, in hushed voice, informed us, 8220;You know, after what happened that day, they took away most of our stock.8221; We cluck-clucked in sympathy and ordered for what was available.

It isn8217;t easy to have rollicking fun in a near-empty lounge bar and we didn8217;t. The drinks were reasonably well-made, although we couldn8217;t taste the difference between the Mojito and the Caprioska. The music was a little too pseudo-Arabic and didn8217;t help raise our spirits. We know that the place didn8217;t have a license to hire a DJ, but some cheerful tunes would8217;ve helped to lighten the mood. The deacute;cor and the general layout of the place were comfortable, but depressingly low-key. A despondent air seemed to cling to the place as the depressed-looking waiters hung around, with hardly anyone to cater to.

As closing time approached, we were puzzled by the complete non-appearance of any patrons at all. Notoriety might have worked wonders for the careers of Rakhi Sawant and Rahul Mahajan, but it obviously doesn8217;t work the same way with restaurants and pubs.

We caught up with one of the few customers there, Gautam Pal, who told us, 8220;I hadn8217;t heard of this place until the rave party incident. After that, I got curious and decided to check it out.8221; That sounded good. Maybe a bad reputation might still help. 8220;But,8221; Pal continued, 8220;It8217;s quite likely that I might not return. It8217;s empty.8221;

This might sound premature but it seems, to us, that the final nail in Bombay 72 Degrees East8217;s coffin might have been struck.