Phorum Dalal (MID-DAY; October 10, 2017)

"I don't party much,” Gauri Khan says, at the start of our conversation. The star wife may be fiercely private as a person, preferring an intimate soiree over a lavish bash, but that is not to say she doesn’t excel at throwing grand parties. The warm hosting skills of Bollywood’s first lady are legendary — ask Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. It’s not surprising then that when Mumbai was to be given a taste of London’s party scene, she was called in for her expertise.

London’s A-lister club, Cirque Le Soir, is hosting a one-night only party in the city on October 27 and Khan, one of the biggest names in interior décor, has been entrusted the responsibility to design the set. “We all wanted to create a space like no other. It had to be luxurious to the point of decadence,” she says of the Halloween party.

Modelled on the lines of a circus, it will include live performances by magicians, clowns, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters, burlesque angle grinders and stilt walkers. Six of the nightclub’s performers are said to fly down for the do.

The club has dominated the party scene since its inception in 2009 finding patrons in Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and 8 ude Law amongst others. Khan is aware that the stakes are high as she gets ready to treat the city to “an unforgettable night”. “The sets will be ethereal with luminous ruins that will transform from heaven into hell with a shift in light. [There will be] demons crashing through gothic gates guarded by winged angels and more,” she says.

Imtiaz Khatri, founder of VVIP Universal Entertainment, the promoters of the event, says, “We couldn’t imagine anyone but Gauri designing this for us.”