Hrithik Roshan and his kids arrive at Four Seasons, Worli for his birthday bash, which went on into the wee hours of the next day.
When Bollywood wants to party through the night, even Mumbai Police doesn't have the heart to stop them, it seems. As actor Hrithik Roshan rang in his 42nd birthday with a bash at the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli on Saturday night, a south Mumbai resident complained that despite repeated complaints about the noise, the police were slow to turn up and take action.
Without any of the required permits, music blared loudly from the party into the wee hours of the next morning and only stopped at 3.30 am after the manager of the hotel was fined the second time that night.
The party was held at AER lounge, at the rooftop on the 34th floor, and was attended by several celebrities. Late into the night, cars were double and triple-parked near the hotel, blocking traffic. Loud music was played well past the 10 pm deadline, prompting the police to pay its first visit to the hotel around 1.30 am, when it charged the manager a fine of Rs 12,500 in a special Local Act Case (LAC) filed under the Bombay Police Act. However, the revelry did not stop then.
When south Mumbai-resident Ashraf Khan was passing by the hotel at 1.30 am, he heard music blaring.
"Several cops were stationed at the hotel gate for bandobast but they did nothing to stop the loud music. I asked the cops on bandobast whether the party had special permission to continue late into the night, but the cops denied this. They said they had been posted there as several big celebrities were attending the bash," said Khan, who then phoned in his first complaint at 2 am.
Half an hour later, the police had still not arrived, so Khan then made another call to the police control room at 2.30 am. "I made another complaint to the Worli police station at 2.45 am, then again at 3 am, but the Worli cops too did not come to the spot to stop the loud music. Cars had also been parked haphazardly, creating a traffic jam," Khan recalled.
"I made the final call to the control room at 3.05 am, and ten minutes later, the cops finally arrived at the hotel, two hours after I made the first complaint. The entire time, the party continued without any hindrance," he added.
However, a senior official from the Worli police station denied there had been any negligence and said, "We had already gone and fined the hotel manager R12,500 once at 1.30 am. When we got the complaint, we went back and fined the manager the same amount again. This time, the party came to an end."
While Hrithik's spokesperson refused to comment on the matter, a source close to the actor who was also present at the party, said the complaint was made by someone with a grudge.
"Some people had crashed the party and when they were sent out, one of them made the police complaint," said the source.
When mid-day contacted the Four Seasons hotel, they said, "Regarding the parking of cars on a public road, that cannot be controlled by the hotel."