Till three months ago, tycoon Vijay Mallya appeared under no pressure to pay back nearly a billion dollars of loans accrued by his Kingfisher Airlines. Even after he was declared a "willful defaulter" by the State Bank of India, Mr Mallya held a blowout birthday party in December at his famous Goa villa, with about 200 guests, a fireworks display, and pop singer Enrique Iglesias as the headline act.