Dance beyond 11 pm? Think twice

Dance beyond 11 pm? Think twice
The Times of India

Bangalore: Tuning in to live music, letting your hair down and dancing beyond 11 pm is bad for you. Dancing beyond 11 pm at a five-star hotel or a pub is not allowed. Because it’s tantamount to a ‘live band.’

Bangalore is in the throes of a twopronged problem. Men and women in the entertainment biz, the young, and just about anyone who wants to relax after a hard day’s work are nursing a huge grouse against the law that clamps on night life beyond 11 pm or 11.30 pm.

DJ Rohit Barker, a familiar name in the music scene rants that Bangalore, which even three years ago was a livewire for the entertainment industry, is slowly becoming a village.

“Can discos be worse than dance bars? Discos are places where women and men wish to dance. A dance bar is a place where women are paid by someone to dance. How can the police equate the two and declare that all

dancing is banned? What is the priority of the police, standing by pubs from 10.30 pm to swoop on the pub-goers at 11 pm or taking care of the law and order situation in the night of a city?’’ he asks. Yet another classically trained musician who plays the piano at the bar of an upmarket hotel says that he ends up wasting his Mozart and Schubert on empty lounges.

“The crowd comes in only after 10.30 pm. And I have to leave at the stroke of 11 pm. Most people finish work only by 10 pm, where are they supposed to unwind?’’ he questions. The point people in the entertainment biz are harping on is just this — if Bangalore is this cosmopolitan place buzzing with techies, why is it such a bad thing to have a good time? (Read pubbing and music.) Also, why is any form of dancing banned?

Reasons police commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh, “I don’t frame laws, I only implement it. As per the Karnataka Excise Act, bars cannot function beyond 11.30 pm. It is the dual responsibility of the excise officials and the police. There is no problem for any music to be played at any hotel but it should not be at a bar. For that, they don’t even need a licence. People should understand the law before commenting.’’