No more tipsy weekends?

For many years, Chennai’s party culture has been lesser known outside the state, yet thriving majorly within the city. Anybody and everybody is generally seen out and about on weekends, hopping from one club to another. But the recent ruling by the Supreme Court to ban liquor in bars and hotels located within 500 metres of highways has put a dampener on namma ooru’s spirits. Not just TASMACs, but several popular restobars and clubs located in star hotels also shut their doors Saturday onwards, causing an uproar in the party circuit. Here’s what the city has to say.

Standalones see better business on the weekend
With a majority of the five-stars, which are home to some of the most happening pubs in the city, being shut shop on Saturday, a large number of party-hoppers were seen thronging the standalone bars. Shiv Dhanya, an event planner in the city and the owner of Sudaka, a restobar in T.Nagar, which has not been affected by the SC order, says, “I don’t see any logic behind this order. In the end, it’s the state’s tourism that will be affected hugely, because those visiting Chennai come to check the nightlife scene as well. And, the taxes that are levied on the alcohol served at all the five-star properties in the city are a huge income to the government as well. So, I think the hotels will work towards a repeal of the order. But on Saturday, we did notice more number of people at Sudaka, with many other pubs in the locality being shut.”

There are several factors involved
Kartheban Ramasamy aka DJ Karty, the renowned resident DJ of Pasha at The Park (one of the hotels affected), says, “If someone wants to drink liquor, they could do it anywhere. They’re not going to do it just on a highway. I think this ruling is a really bad idea because people’s jobs are also involved in the mix. It would be better to keep the five-star hotels and selected bars open and shut down TASMACs etc. And also increase the number of cops on the road.” He goes on to share the effect Chennai has already seen because of the ban. “It’s been affected a lot — hardly a few places are open to go on weekends and people are scattered throughout the city in different establishments. We, at Pasha, aren’t sure about how long this will go on and we’re closed as of now. I don’t have anything on my mind as far as shifting to another club is concerned.”

‘An unreasonable ruling’
To shut popular restobars and lounges, which people have been going to for many years, based on their location, is unreasonable, says model Arthi Venkatesh, who has seen the city’s nightlife scene for many years now. She adds that if the ban continues it could affect the city’s nightlife heavily.

I don’t understand the idea behind the order, as it makes sense to limit the time till which these bars can stay open, but not order them to shut down entirely — that can prevent people from going overboard. Chennaiites love to hang out during the weekends, but with this kind of bans, the few places that are open will be hugely populated due to lack of options. Where are people expected to hangout?” Arthi questions.

‘Need strict laws, not a ban’
Christleda Philip, a regular party-goer and a part-time DJ in the city, believes that if the order is aimed at addressing the drunken driving cases in our country, then it requires stricter laws. “There is a high possibility that a person can drink at someone’s home instead of a hotel, and still take his/her car out after getting drunk. So, what we need here is laws to address that issue and to create fear among people from driving their vehicles after being drunk, like cancellation of licenses. With a lot of DJs, bartenders and hotel staff working in these lounge bars, many of them are going to find it hard to find jobs if this ban continues,” she signs off.