Hotel does it Hush, hush!

Big rush for tickets priced at 4,000 per couple.

• Hindu activists, Women’s organisations condemn the move

• Hindu Janajagruti Samiti to submit memo to KCR

• Says it’ll promote vulgarity, nudity & sex

• Hotel tightlipped, will react only after inauguration

There is a lot of buzz regarding the launch of Playboy Club in the city. While the club plans to boost the image of the city, owing to its international image right wing activists have condemned its inauguration. They have questioned the move to have a ‘red carpet’ welcome for the club when the incidents of rape are on the rise.

It’s official, Hyderabad Playboy Club would officially open its doors on Saturday at HICC Novotel. Swedish electronic dance music star of Tomorrowland, DJ Sebjak would be headlining the show. The opening act would be done by DJ Anees, who is the in-house DJ and the tickets for the gig are priced at Rs 4,000 per couple. A spokesperson from PB Lifestyle Ltd said that apart from Playboy in Hotel Novotel at Hitec City, the company also plans to launch nightclubs under the brand at Worli in Mumbai and South Delhi this year.

Sana Satish Babu, who has been on the forefront of the launch of Playboy in Hyderabad and the owner of The Club, Novotel, in an earlier interview had said, “Hyderabad is a young and dynamic city and the brand Playboy goes with it completely. I think this deal would open a new chapter in Hyderabad’s younger culture. It all happened when I visited Playboy Club in London and then I put forward the proposal for Playboy in Hyderabad. Playboy has given quite a few things to the style and fashion of this world, we are planning to bring all of that within the reach of the people of Hyderabad through Playboy Club, Playboy Café and merchandise, ranging from perfumes to apparels. Looking at the increasing style quotient in Hyderabad, we are sure that the merchandise would be well received by the public.”

The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has, however, opposed the plans to open the club. Mohan Gowd, state convenor, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, HJS, said, “It is absolutely wrong to give permission to an institution like Playboy Club which promotes vulgarity, nudity and sex. This will boost perversity and further encourage rapists. Hence HJS demands that the government should give priority to teach the ideal of Bharatiya culture and morality by not granting permission to the Playboy Club.”

“Incidents of rape of national and international tourists have already been exposed earlier. Why then a red carpet welcome to Playboy at such times? A memorandum to that effect would be handed over to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. HJS has also taken a stand to oppose the club vehemently,” he added.

The HJS had played a crucial role in banning the club when it was setting it up in Goa.

It must be highlighted that Hugh Hefner, founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, commenting about the Playboy bunnies and the launch in India, had said, “Bunnies are fresh animals, shy, vivacious, jumping—sexy. First it smells you, then it escapes, then it comes back and you feel like caressing it, playing with it. A girl resembles a bunny."

Commenting on the sexism being promoted in these clubs Tejaswini Madabushi, one of the founding members of Hyderabad for Feminism, says, “The Telangana government giving permission to this club is very disappointing. I am not against clubbing, but this is sexist clubbing. The whole concept of bunnies is very humiliating to women and would further promote rape culture and violence on women. Women playing bunnies are very vulnerable to exploitation and it's a serious concern. Another thing I would like to stress is that we should not ignore this as a rich, urban male club that won't affect the rest of the society. The people visiting such clubs are a small minority, they tend to have a huge influence on popular culture and a lot of other people would emulate this behaviour. Hollywood has shown Playboy clubs in a fashionable way. It won't be long before our local movies start showing them in the same way and it might be too late before we realise how sexist clubbing has affected our culture.”