Living the dream
Google “Vikram Chatwal” and you find a multiplicity of lives, all of them worth living—international playboy, scion to a fortune, occasional actor, friend of supermodels and celebrities, paid-up member of Manhattan society, and former boyfriend of Kate Moss.
Now, usually, when a venue flatters itself with a name like Heaven or Paradise, it’s a sure sign that it’s neither. When did “Fancy Shop” denote anything but an utter lack of fanciness? Thankfully, Dream Hotel may be the exception. According to the bumph, it’s a collision of Indian exoticism and Western whimsy, “a mind-bending avant-grade (sic) level of surrealism”. Hence the blue-lit bedrooms, the green-lit restaurant and the cavernous hotel foyer bathed in delicate pastels—no doubt, Mr Chatwal finds groovy lighting very dreamlike. Quite where the huge conference halls and business centre fit in, however, is not clear. Who dreams of business centres? But these are minor quibbles.
I’m seated opposite Mr Chatwal today, in his suite at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi. He visits often these days, because his wife Priya lives here with their two-year-old daughter, and he has business interests here, not least a 500-room hotel in Noida that will be finished before the Commonwealth Games.
His hair swept back, he greets me warmly, with a mild sniffle of a cold. A mellow, easygoing character, he listens attentively to my questions and answers earnestly, with impeccable manners. When the interview is over, he will take off for Mumbai to host a fashion show with Naomi Campbell, followed by a giant party to launch his Cochin hotel, and then back to his Manhattan apartment in the West Village, the terribly cool meatpacking district, where he will discuss movie projects. I suspect the real dream for most of us, isn’t Chatwal’s hotels, but his lifestyle…
M: You have this reputation as a playboy.
C: I guess there could be the misperception that I’m not serious or whatever. But work hard, play hard has always been the way I operate. Certainly, having a child and getting married has made it easier to lead a more settled lifestyle.
M: Your wedding—the Big Fat Sikh Wedding—was ridiculous. Your guestlist included the Clintons, Manmohan Singh, Lakshmi Mittal...
C: Well, you’re only going to do it once. That’s why Indian marriages are so big— so you don’t have to do them again!
M: But your life in Manhattan is ridiculous, too—it has this Vanity Fair quality, full of models and celebrities.
C: It is a whole different planet sometimes. I’ve been lucky to work with great talent and amazing people. But in that situation, it can be a do-or-die situation—you either perform and deliver or that’s it. These people make their decisions right there on the spot.
M: There’s an intimidation factor with being around successful people?
C: Sometimes it’s self-inflicted. If you’re insecure, say. I was lucky because the first few projects I did in the hotel business came out well, so I was associated with being good at what I do.
M: You’ve always been around money and privilege—how has your relationship with money changed?
C: People think it’s easier when you come from money, but sometimes it isn’t, especially if you’re trying to make a name for yourself. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
M: After you left college, you stated that you wanted to be the first Sikh billionaire. Is that still a goal?
C: Yeah, sure, it’s a goal, but it’s not a priority. Money has become secondary— you reach a point in your life where you just want to do what you enjoy. If you’re passionate, then the money will come.
M: You’re expanding your hotel empire now—is expansion inevitable?
C: My goal isn’t to own the most hotels, it’s to create interesting hotels that I want to visit.
M: How has the market collapse hurt you?
C: Well, I used to have my own jet till the market tanked, so there’s that—a Global Express 5000, it could fit 14 people. Currently, with the stuff that’s happened with the market, I’m trying to be a bit more of a Taoist, living more in the moment.
M: Any movies on the horizon?
C: I just finished a project for Shekhar Kapoor in Buenos Aires. Julia Stiles is in it, from the Bourne movies? It’s called Three Graces.
M: What about a vacation—where does a hotelier go on holiday?
C: I spent four years building a yacht in Turkey and it’s just finished. So I stay on that. I love the ocean. M
Contact: Dream Hotel Cochin on 0484-412 9999, www.dreamcok.com
Rooms from Rs 12,000 + tax (for two)
