It's party time, let's have fun," says Percept honcho Shailendra Singh, as he asks for water, and some tea, and settles deep into the sofa. He's got a fluorescent hat on, is sporting a pair of large plastic goggles, and is wearing golden shoes. Hard to believe he is the guy who talks business to Bollywood biggies. Say this, and he laughs, "Life is too short, I like to enjoy myself. I don't care about all this propriety. I've been wearing a suit all morning and I have made sense to all those chairmen, so my serious side is over." Excerpts.
You're bringing Sunburn to Noida. As an organiser, was procuring permission for such a large scale event in the NCR very difficult?
Every place has had its interesting challenges. We are a strange country. If you are living in Delhi, you can't take your car to Bombay. Tax laws are different, road laws are different, entertainment laws are different. So, we really are the United States of India. In two hours, not only the cuisine and the language changes, but the law changes as well. There was this crazy incident in Goa. I've done so much for Goa over the past few years in terms of entertainment - there's Sunburn, we do Goa Super Sixes, Casino Carnival, and one of the local magazines there wanted to do a cover story on me. The editor told me he was dying to, but couldn't put me on the cover because I was not Goan. I was like, I am Indian dude, what's wrong with you? Anyway, there are these local challenges you have to face.
But Delhi and the NCR is famous for being a nightmare for concert-type event organisers.
We are doing our level best, but what happens is when you go to any market and do these things, there are bound to be gaps, but it depends on the states. But the basic point is, if the Commissioner of Police wants this to happen, phir woh ho jayega. If he tells us straight that you are making a mistake here, correct it; one shouldn't wait till the nth hour when cancelling is the only option left. If the management itself feels progressive towards these things, then they'll support it, and it will happen. I did a Lewis Hamilton race in Mumbai, and that too on a Sunday. There were six lakh people at Bandra Fair on the same Sunday. But the chief minister and the police commissioner said 'we want it, do it'. It was amazing. Chhagan Bhujbal, the tourism minister, was also there, and all three were standing there at the venue and saying do it. It was live in 80 countries and got 60 million hits on the internet.
Are you running between the Delhi and the UP govts, or just the UP government?
UP government. So, we are studying what that state's law is, we are doing our best to follow it, and we hope it falls into place.
The history of last-minute cancellations aren't worrying you?
I think the learnings are there - and we will try and follow every piece of law. Goa is a complicated place as well, in terms of law, but we managed. We are hoping, believing that Delhi, North India and Noida will also stand by us and support us.
What kind of permissions were needed?
There is a protocol to be followed, and we have a department for it. And, we are happy we go everywhere to the lawmakers and say 'hey, we are gonna be doing this festival, please tell us what is it that you want us to do' and we follow it to the T. They say you should have 30 cops at the venue, we have 40. They say have 10 sniffer dogs, we have 20. If the law says install 10 CCTV cameras, in Goa we had 80 of them. So, it depends on whatever is demanded of us. They say shut at 10 o'clock, we shut at 9.59. Ultimately, it is up to the government to make this happen, and also make sure the citizens are safe. So, you cannot tell me that if I am watching a movie in a multiplex at night, it is not the responsibility of the state to ensure my safety. So why can't you make a festival safe? So, make Sunburn safe. I guess the spirit is there, from the government and us, to make this happen. And we will do all it takes. We would never want to break the law and we never have.
Every organiser of big-ticket events cribs of everyone wanting free tickets.
I don't call them freebies, but yes, we've had this issue. In Goa, this assistant commissioner asked for passes and it became a big controversy. He asked for passes and we, as organizers, said if he rightfully needs it for protocol reasons, he's rightfully asking for it. We have a quota for this. So if someone rightfully feels he or she deserves it, approach us now. Because the venue has a certain capacity, and if the passes are over, I can't do anything about it. But there has to be a valid reason for wanting the tickets - this happens even in the Olympics. The world is going to watch Noida, as Sunburn goes live to 80 countries, the world is going to watch how we handle ourselves, so please let's handle it with dignity.
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