The silence of the lobbies

After a recent amendment to the Entertainment Tax law, Mumbai's five-stars and pubs are falling silent, with live musicians asked to stay home. Dhamini Ratnam tracks the human story behind the day-the-music-died

It was a regular Thursday for 44 year-old Navruz Desai on September 30, as he got ready to head to work. Knotting his tie, he slipped on his dark glasses and hugged his mother Thrity before stepping out of his Union Park home for ITC Grand Central, the Lower Parel five-star where he had been playing the piano for five years.
As he walked down the stairs towards Fredrick Lounge in the basement of the hotel, Desai began to mentally tick off the songs he intended to play that evening. Before he could get to the grand piano, he was asked to see the manager.
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Imaging/Dharmesh Rathod

After waiting an hour, Desai returned home. His manager was too busy to meet him.

Since that evening, the grand piano at the Lounge has remained silent. Later that night, Desai was informed over the phone that his services were no longer required.

"He said my contract, which they had renewed every six months for the last five years, stood cancelled because of the Entertainment Tax that had been recently imposed," says Desai.

The tax Desai is referring to, which now threatens to end the live music culture that has thrived in Mumbai hotels for decades, was imposed on August 2, 2010 after an amendment to the Mumbai Entertainment Tax Act of 1923. According to the revised rules, any place within a five-star hotel that serves alcohol and offers a live music performance will be charged Rs 2 lakh a month.


After being asked to stay home by the ITC Grand Central, pianist
Navruz Desai has taken up a day job of transcribing notes on
Zoroastrianism for a Parsi lecturer in Gujarat.u00a0PIC/ Anuja Gupta

So, for instance, at the Taj Mahal Palace & Towers, Apollo Bunder, which houses five outlets that serve alcohol and entertain guests with live music, the Entertainment Tax would amount to Rs 10 lakh a month or Rs 1.2 crore a year -- the sort of sum many hotels around the city are, predictably, not keen to cough up.
Musicians who have been performing at Mumbai hotels for years -- some, for over five decades, like 70-year-old Ronald 'Ronny' Menezes -- have been the easiest targets.

Four days after Desai was asked to leave, Menezes, who had been playing the piano in the Resident's Lounge of the ITC Maratha, Sahar, for nine years, was told to stay home.

Like Desai, Menezes didn't see it coming. "My contract lapsed on August 31, but I continued to play thinking they'd renew it like always. A month later, they asked me to stop because they couldn't bear the extra tax cost."

While Kuldeep Bharti, general manager, ITC Grand Central remained unavailable for comment, a senior executive at the hotel who did not wish to be identified, said, "The focal point of a five-star hotel is not its music. Our guests won't stop coming if the music stops playing. With the Entertainment Tax, it doesn't make business sense to retain musicians."

'Business sense' has driven hotels around the city to sack scores of musicians in the past few month: a five-star in Bandra has asked eight musicians it employs to leave with immediate effect. Six musicians at the Taj Mahal Palace & Towers were told their contracts will not be renewed after December 31, 2010. Free Spirit, the four-member classic rock band that played at Starboard, Taj's lively little bar, had their contract cut down by four months. Last Thursday was their last working day. "At Taj, we will continue to present live musical performances until the end of this calendar year, after which we will evaluate the feasibility given the new rate of taxation that has been levied," a Taj spokesperson said.

South Mumbai's other five-star landmark, The Oberoi, says it has no immediate plans to stop the music. "We are not ending any contracts of our musicians at the moment," clarifies Devendra Bharma, Executive Vice President, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Mumbai.

And while the footfall in five-stars may not dip because their lobbies and lounges have fallen silent, many believe it will lead to an indelible change to the ambience of such properties.

"Live music adds to the ambience of the place no matter what you are doing -- relaxing, lazing or holding a business meeting," says 64 year-old Bengaluru businessman Rajan Bhavnani, a frequent guest at ITC Maratha. Bhavnani was disappointed to hear that Menezes would no longer play at the Lounge. "I loved hearing Ronny play. I can't believe he won't be there when I drop in next. The whole ambience will change, and I don't think it'll be for the better," he says.

As musicians fall prey to the combined effect of an arbitrary government imposition and a hardheaded business sense, collective anger is beginning to surface. On Thursday, a group of musicians met Member of Parliament Priya Dutt and MLA Baba Siddiqui to seek help. A Facebook campaign titled, Pls Don't Kill Live Music is already underway.

"The revenue department is shooting itself in the foot. Their aim is to collect more money, but the absence of live musicians will cause a drop in the number of tourists visiting five-stars," believes singer Sunita Noronha, 41, who was part of the group that met Dutt.

"We don't enjoy any benefits that regular employees do -- no sick leave, provident fund, job security. But we have responsibilities -- medical bills, home loans, aging parents. With such a heavy tax imposition, how are we supposed to find a job in five-stars?" asks Nikhil Britto, 50, a cancer survivor and pianist with The Taj.

"It's a pity that the government and hotels are treating us as if we are pursuing a hobby, not a profession," says Desai. In the meanwhile, he has taken up a day job that involves transcribing notes on Zoroastrianism for an old Parsi lecturer based in Gujarat. His fingers, not used to the computer keyboard, move slowly.

But he waits, patiently, to lift the cover of a grand piano.

"Till then," he says, "I'll eke out a living."

How you can join the Facebook Campaign
>>Singer Sharon Menezes started a Facebook page called PLS DONT KILL LIVE MUSIC to register musicians' protests against the amendment of the Entertainment Tax and the death of live Western music that the revised rules will bring about.
>>It has over 1,236 members already.
>>A few musicians drafted a letter to the Revenue Minister, asking him to roll back the amendment. You can read the letter on the Facebook page.
>>To support the cause, head to Soul Fry outlets in Bandra and Kala Ghoda, where a signature campaign is currently on.

The handbook

Your guide to the music controversy
>>On August 2, the Government of Maharashtra sent out a notification amending the archaic 1923 Entertainment Tax law. In the revised rules, locations in five-stars that served alcohol and played live music would have to pay Rs 2 lakh tax per month. For pubs, the tax was fixed at Rs 1 lakh. These figures were halved for locations outside Mumbai.
>>By September, a few five-stars woke up to the ramifications of the tax and began to sack live musicians.
>>Pub owners began to contemplate discontinuing live shows.
>>Last week, the secretary of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, Western India, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli went on record to say that this year's New Year night "would be a huge flop" since the new tax had led many hotels and pubs to cancel their original plans.
>>In November, a group of musicians got together and started a signature campaign, and are keen to meet the Revenue Minister. Noted Jazz musician Louiz Banks pledged support for the cause of live musicians last week.

You might not hear them anymore

Keith Donald, bass player

Donald and his band members who played at Taj Lands End in Bandra, were asked to leave earlier this month.

Rosette Furtado, singer

Furtado was scheduled to sing at a popular SoBo joint last week but the gig fell through thanks to the Entertainment Tax.

Nikhil Britto, pianist

A pianist with the Chambers, Taj Palace & Towers for the past five years, Britto's last performance is scheduled for December 31.

They have their say
They should have given him a month's notice, instead of sacking him on the last day of the contract.
Thrity Desai, 75, Navruz Desai's mother

What study or survey has been conducted to arrive at the figure for the tax? Why are musicians being treated as if they are pursuing a hobby? When will people recognise music as a profession?
Nikhil Britto, 50, pianist at the Chambers, Taj Palace

I don't know what I'll do about my next job.
Rui Rodrigues, 38, solo pianist, Taj Palace

We will have to disband and find work in different places.
Ian Enthiado, drummer for Free Spirit, a four-member classic rock band. Their contract ended last Thursday

Live music gigs discovered these famous voices

Usha Uthup
>>Most of Uthup's pre-Bollywood singing career can be attributed to the jazziest joint in town back in the '60s. A crooner at Not Just Jazz By the Bay, which went by the name Talk of the Town then, this is where Uthup gained popularity as a singer before taking up playback.

Leslie Lewis
>>One half of the Indi-pop band Colonial Cousins, Lewis began his career playing at Caf ufffd Royal, Oberoi Towers in the '80s. In 1987, he launched a music company and started composing jingles for ads. He met Hariharan and formed the famous pop fusion band in 1992.