Even before the gates opened and the crowds swelled to catch Yo Yo Honey Singh on stage, the BKC Police were keeping a close eye on the singer-performer’s March 28 concert at the MMRDA ground.

The cops had given permission for the concert with strict instructions that laser lights should not be used, since the venue falls close to the airport funnel zone that flights use for take-offs and landings. Yet, on concert day, airport authorities flagged laser use from the afternoon and despite repeated calls from the police, organizers allegedly beamed laser lights into the evening sky till 9 pm, putting hundreds of lives and flights at risk.

It was only after the police contacted Indrajit Singh, the representative of the organizer Tamannaz Worldwide, that the lights were finally switched off around 9 pm.

Cops later lodged an FIR against Singh for ignoring clear police instructions prohibiting laser lights at the venue.

The event had received permission with strict conditions — including a cap of 12,000 attendees and a complete ban on laser lighting. At a pre-event meeting with DCP Zone 08, organisers had assured officials that the crowd would remain within limits and that adequate traffic management would be in place.

However, on March 28, even before the concert began, airport authorities alerted police about the possible use of laser beams, flagging aviation safety concerns. The organisers were warned again — verbally and in writing — that any violation would invite action.

As gates opened around 6 pm, the situation quickly spiralled. A massive crowd, estimated at 18,000–20,000, flooded the venue — far exceeding capacity. The pressure was so intense that entry gates gave way, triggering chaos and making crowd control difficult. Several attendees, including women, complained of being trapped, prompting police to step in and pull them out.

Police also noticed laser beams being used during the performance. Despite repeated instructions to shut them down, the organizers allegedly continued till 9 pm, when police contacted Singh.

Cops have registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, invoking Sections 125, 223(a) and 212. Section 125 pertains to acts that endanger human life or safety, Section 223(a) deals with disobedience of orders issued by public authorities, and Section 212 relates to providing false information to officials.

The complaint also accuses the organizers of misleading authorities about expected footfall and negligently creating a situation that could have endangered both public safety and air traffic.

Mumbai: Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja has sold her luxury apartment in Mumbai’s business district Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to a Delhi-based company SMF Infrastructure for Rs. 32.50 crores.

She had purchased this apartment spread over 4,610 sq ft carpet area in super-premium residential project Signature Island in 2015 for Rs. 31.48 crores. The buyer has paid stamp duty of Rs. 1.95 crore for the registration of the deal that took place on December 29.

Several prominent personalities from the corporate world, Bollywood and banking fraternity have already bought apartments in this residential project built by developer Sunteck Realty. As part of the deal, SMF Infrastructure will get exclusive access to four car parking slots. Along with the carpet area, the buyer will also get rights to exclusively use the open area attached with the apartment, showed the documents accessed through IndexTap.com.

SMF Infrastructure had approached the actress to purchase this property in 2020 and both the parties had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the deal then. She had informed the developer about the proposed sale and transfer of the apartment in April 2022.

ET’s email query to SMF Infrastructure and calls and text messages to Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s team remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

Apart from Uday Kotak, other buyers are Gautam Adani, Vikram Pandit, Gunit Chaddha and Mihir Doshi. Actress Aishwarya Rai has also bought an apartment in the neighbouring project Signia Isle developed by the same developer.

In 2021, healthcare product maker Abbott Healthcare had inked a transaction to lease a 5,000 sq feet apartment in this tower for a monthly rental of around Rs. 10 lakhs. The total tenure of the lease was 36 months, which takes the rentals payout to over Rs. 3.60 crores during the period. The luxury pad was likely to be occupied by a CXO of the company as the company’s corporate office is just a few meters away from this complex.

Mumbai, the country’s biggest and most expensive property market, has continued its record-setting spree as the stamp duty revenue collection for the month of December and also for the year 2022 scaled a new peak despite rising mortgage rates and property prices.

The special auditorium at the BKC property

Cinemas are finally back in action today. Where the exhibitors are heaving a sigh of relief, it’s not lost on them either that content alone will no longer be able to lure people back to the movies. Two days before the reopening of theatres in Maharashtra, we paid a visit to PVR’s new luxury property in Bandra Kurla Complex. With this endeavour, Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR, hopes to start a new concept in movie-viewing — one that he describes as “movie-cation”. What does that entail, you ask? Private screening rooms called The Loft, artisanal coffee, menus curated by chefs from five-star hotels, an elaborate sushi section, and vegan desserts handcrafted by Parisian patisseries.

Clearly, theatre owners are amping up their game to ensure they don’t lose out in the race against OTT platforms. But we’ll get to that later. When we begin our conversation with Dutta, the obvious question is: How did cinemas survive the past one-and-a-half years? “We knew we would bounce back. People had said movie halls will shut down when the Indian Premier League started, and when piracy [hit the industry]. Now they say the same because of the OTT [boom]. Over the past 18 months, we saw severe salary cuts, but we didn’t lay off people. We raised money through capital, equity and loans. Our leaders liquidated assets, but better days were bound to come,” states Dutta.

Many filmmakers expressed solidarity with exhibitors by holding off the release of their movies. The line-up ahead is impressive, with Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi, Shahid Kapoor’s Jersey, Ayushmann Khurrana’s Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Ranveer Singh’s '83 and many more awaiting their turn at the marquee. On their part, the theatre owners are pulling out new tricks from their bags.  

“We’re no longer in the business of showing movies. We wanted this property to be like a seven-star hotel, where people can [come and rejuvenate].”

Pricing could be a matter of concern, at a time when the spending power of people is probably at an all-time low. He counters that, saying, “We will have schemes and introductory offers to lure people back. When we started gold class and recliners, people said nobody would pay for those. Even now, those are the first seats to go. Property investments essentially are for posterity. We have a long-term vision of expanding the experience.”

Four biggies are lined up for the first week — Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Dune and Bellbottom. All eyes though are on Kumar’s cop caper that will hit the screens on Diwali. “The whole circuit will [hopefully] come alive, like the Punjab market did with Diljit Dosanjh’s Honsla Rakh. The market is registering better numbers than what it did pre-pandemic.”

The coming months will determine whether the measures will be enough to draw audiences, who are now accustomed to having movies only a click away. Surprisingly though, Dutta doesn’t view OTT entertainment as its competitor. “People who consume more OTT, consume more cinema. Data proves there is co-relation. We [function] as parallels, and not as one versus the other. That said, filmmakers want their movies to open on the big screen.”

Not long ago, some cinema chains were in conversation with Netflix and Amazon to bring OTT content to the big screen. “We felt we could host special screenings of pilots and finales. But to have 10-hour binge-athons felt too laborious. The length of the episodes is the roadblock. Hopefully, that will happen in the near future. Shershaah, after all, premiered at Chanakya in Delhi.”

Dutta is hopeful that the earlier routine of Fridays will return. Sharing an analogy, he says, “I put on weight every time I eat sweets. So I ask my wife not to bring sweets home. Movies are just like that box of sweets. Mithai ka dabba kholne ki deri hai.”

On Sushant Singh Rajput’s birth anniversary yesterday, members from film and television industry remembered him fondly. Veteran actress Usha Nadkarni, who is also known as Manav’s aai from the show Pavitra Rishta, spoke to us about the good times they shared on the set of the TV show. Pavitra Rishta was the show that catapulted Sushant to fame and made him a household name.

Nadkarni remembered how during the initial days Sushant had once celebrated his birthday with the cast of the show. She shared, “He had organised a birthday party at Madh Island and invited all of us. It was a lot of fun. I was there for a short while because I needed to get back, but I remember enjoying the party with everyone.” On his birth anniversary, she remembered the little chats that they would have on the sets and how he was a free spirit, who was always smiling.

Talking about Sushant, she said that he had once pointed to a house and expressed the desire to reach a point in life where he could purchase it. She recounted, “Once we were in BKC and he showed me a highrise building and said, ‘I want to buy a house here.’ He also said he wanted to buy a luxurious car. I asked him, ‘Wouldn’t that require a lot of money?’ And he smiled saying, ‘Yes.’ He was a good soul.”

At an event held last year, Usha paid an emotional tribute to the actor. She was heard saying, “On screen mera Manav shaant aur sushil tha, off screen badmash aur nathkhat… Aaj bhi mere dil mein mera Manav basta hai.”