Liz Hurley came but did not say hello

“Yes, they did visit,” confirms the hotel’s vice-president Ravi Dubey. “But I got to know of it only later.” At the restaurant, they requested a corner table and instructed no photographs were to be taken. Those who hadn’t made reservations previously were kept out, while Nayar and his guests ate dim sum, vegetables in garlic sauce, chicken in blackbean sauce, crispy lamb and vanilla, honey nut crunch icecream.

The rest of the days were for shopping. It seems Nayar took his girlfriend to the city’s best shopping spots. They browsed Colaba Causeway for flea market shopping, bought some silver jewellery at the popular D Popli at Colaba, bought lots of homeware from Shyam Ahuja, upholstery, fabric and pieces of furniture for Hurley’s new home in England.

“She came to my store too,” says Ailawadi, who owns a fashion store called Oak Tree. “She bought a few T-shirts and kurtas,” she adds. “One had a picture of Laxmi on it, made by the Horn OK Please brand. She also bought a pair of high heels which she just fell in love with.” Ailawadi also gifted her some kurtas from popular designer Monisha Jaising. “But the rest of the stuff she bought was from the newer designers, like this sequinned hand bag with a diamond handle from a girl called Anandita,” adds Ailawadi. “She also bought some Lucknowi kurtas to wear on the beach from a local.”

Hurley was a hit with Nayar’s friends. The Surendranaths thought her to be lovely, while Ailawadi said she was extremely easy to get along with. “She was relaxed and cool and looked great in jeans, which she wore most of the time.”

Hurley stayed at one of Nayar’s apartments in his St James’ Court residence at Marine Drive. At the opening of an American fast food chain, TGIF, rumours were rife that she was to attend the party. Nayar, when contacted then, had denied her presence here. “She isn’t here, if she was, believe me, I’d be the first to know,” he had said, charming the media into believing him.