W hen Bangalore cancelled the high-profile David Guetta show last week, Mumbai followed suit. At one point of time, David Guetta and his team were not sure of what would happen to the shows scheduled in India. However, Hyderabad, a city not quite known for its night life or for being as cool as other metro counterparts, succeeded in hosting the show and creating a new image for itself. An impressive one at that. David performed in the city. The organisers even announced that the police would ensure the security and safety for audience. The IT and Municipal Administration minister KTR too tweeted, requesting the Police Commissioner to arrange adequate police teams, including SHE teams, to ensure the safety of women. And it was done.
With that big event successfully conducted in the beginning of the year, the organisers along with Telangana tourism are now working on a permanent venue to officially ‘house’ a big international event.
Doesn’t that make Hyderabad the new cool? The track record has been impressive too. The city has seen a surge in big format events with properties like Sunburn starring leading DJ’s like Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Tiesto and David Guetta. Other gigs include Windsong, Tomorrowland Unite, NH7 and even the internationally renowned Sensation. Vijay Amritraj, partner and CEO - Voila Events who have been the driving force behind all major events says, “Next in line is Mad Decent Block Party which is scheduled for March 4. The primary reason why we got into this sector was to get Hyderabad City’s mojo back after a long period of uncertainty, which brought the city to a stand still. With active encouragement from KT Rama Rao,who plays a lead role in the development of Brand Hyderabad, we have been able to deliver glitch free events in the past two and half years. Events like the ones we do add to the soft power of the city and help create a positive image for Brand Hyderabad.”
In 2016 every event was a success, with no incidents of misbehaviour or mishaps. A result of numerous stages of stringent screening that begin even before the tickets are collected. Everyone who has been to any of these huge format open air events will vouch for the smooth no- nonsense atmosphere from the crowd. Besides the presence of police and private security agencies, bouncers arranged by the organisers ensure safety. SWAT agency have played a major part in providing bouncers who have been able to keep mischief makers at bay, despite the massive crowd and single entry arena. Sadhan Naidu, owner of SWAT elaborates, “My boys are instructed to not manhandle anyone. Youngsters get drunk and can get abusive at times. That is when good handling can avert any untoward incident. Bouncers aren’t meant to bounce off people; they bounce off trouble, shield people and resist rowdy behaviour. They do it all while keeping their cool and treating the mischief makers well but not letting them have it their way. When the other party is trying to engage us, we do not engage them. That’s the way to handle a big crowd. Since there are no women bouncers in the city, we rope in private security women to help us.”
Vijay adds, “We follow internationally renowned 3-ring security processes and deploy a large number of private security personnel inside the arena. The Cyberabad Police of course does multiple checks and sweeps at the venue before the event and deploys strong bandobast as well. SHE teams are deputed too.”
With such assurance and promise of safety, Hyderabad sure looks forward to seeing Tomorrowland Unite, Sensation and NH7 return this year too.
