In the early 90s, partying in Delhi either meant attending a private party at farmhouses, which were very rare, or being at Ghungroo, the most popular nightclub at a five-star hotel. There were just two places in the late 80s and early 90s – Ghungroo and Number One. Later, more places like Oasis opened up. One had to be a member to enter Ghungroo or a guest at the hotel. The membership at that time was `1 lakh a year. There was no concept of bars outside of hotels, so by default, hotel clubs became places where people would go to party till late. There were no time restrictions, and on Saturday nights we would wind up by 5am, and then the party would move to the coffee shop and people would have breakfast and then go home. Even on weekdays, we would play till 3-4am without any restrictions. Time restrictions came into place in the early 2000s, when bars started opening outside hotels.
Gulshan Grover and Ajay Jadeja
Ghungroo nightclub was one the most happening partying spots in Delhi
Partying with designers, models, actors and cricketers
The regular crowd at Ghungroo were designers and businessmen. Most fashion designers like Ashish N Soni, Rohit Bal, Ravi Bajaj, Rohit Khosla, Suneet Varma, Jattinn Kochhar, JJ Valaya, and Ritu Beri used to hang out there. The crowd was mostly youngsters in their mid-20s and at that time, you could go to a club if you were 18. Even when people were visiting Delhi, going to Ghungroo was a must in the 90s. In the winter months, we would have a lot of guests from the UK, students who would come to India during their winter breaks. Many actors were a regular there. Saif Ali Khan would come there even before he made his debut. Shah Rukh Khan used to visit in the early 90s with a gang of four-five friends from his school. Then there were models like Arjun Rampal, Madhu Sapre, Mehr Jesia and Milind Soman. Katrina Kaif in her early modelling days, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Sushmita Sen also used to visit Ghungroo. Javed Jafferi used to hang around with me at the console, he was there every two-three months. A lot of cricketers like Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Ajay Jadeja and Kapil Dev would come there often.
Adnan Sami and DJ Sunny Sarid
Delhi Times’ Page 3 – the party page that is all about the movers and shakers of the city – has stood the test of time and a clipping is still a keepsake for those featured
Javed Jafferi with Annamika and Mehar Sarid
Bollywood and Punjabi music were rarely a part of DJs’ playlist in the 90s
Music in the 90s was essentially a lot of 80s retro and 70s disco, then came the era of techno music. At that point of time there were no radio stations, Channel V was launched and that was the only music channel. Music was essentially what a DJ could bring into the club because there was no downloading, no streaming platforms. Bollywood and Punjabi music were rarely a part of DJs playlist then. Just a couple of songs like Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar Hai and Humma Humma were part of a DJ’s playlist. Delhi was listening to whatever was playing in the clubs. Music by bands like Culture Club, 2 Unlimited in techno, Bryan Adams and some one-song wonders in electronic music were popular. Delhi was more into commercial, house and electronic music, with a little bit of rock.
– As told to Divya Kaushik
