Vijay Mallya
If lifestyle is what Kingfisher is trying to forge its image into, they couldn't have got a better brand ambassador than its owner. The flamboyant tycoon is well known for his yen for fast cars, fast horses, flashy clothes (some even whisper flashy women), fabulous houses; all deliciously laced with a dash of spiritualism on the side.
The calling card tells you some of that. The eye runs down a seemingly never-ending roster of offices and residences that run through Dubai, California, Scotland, South Africa, West Africa, Mumbai and Bangalore. Mumbai's chatterati, those who have had a peek, can't stop humming about his seafront mansion in the extremely upmarket Malabar Hill. It is Mandrake's Xanadu -- swishy lifts, silent bodyguards, doors which only open electronically. Escape from the city is by private jet; maybe to his stud farm in Bangalore, or a cruise in his yacht Kalizma, the one that once belonged to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, definitely, here is a card-holding member of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
On a recent afternoon, he was in Paris, ruling over the very trendy Buddha Bar as the sponsor of the Ritu Beri haute couture show. And the alacrity with which Mallya is signing up India's top designers into his stable indicates that he is rather keen on becoming the sugar daddy of Indian fashion.
His foray into fashion so far includes a lacklustre Kingfisher fashion sport clothing line, designed by Bangalore-based Manoviraj Khosla. It has, to put it mildly, not made the slightest impact on the clothing market. There is no visible effort being made by Kingfisher to boost sales, so one is at a loss as to why it exists at all. And then there are those Kingfisher Fashion Awards given annually to designers, choreographers, photographers, make-up and hair artistes. These surely have miles to go before they can be advertised as ' The Awards' of Indian fashion. It almost seems like Mallya uses the occasion as an excuse to have yet another one of those grand parties he is famous for.
More recently, he has bought out almari.com, because it gives him unfettered access to the talents of India's top couturiers Tarun Tahiliani, Raghavendra Rathore, Rohit Bal and of course the stupendously successful Ritu Beri. Almari had a contract with the four to produce one annual collection each, exclusively for the site, before it went defunct. The liquor tycoon liked that part of the contract very much (just imagine the possibilities of an annual Kingfisher collection from India's top couturiers) and snapped up the site at, we are informed, bargain basement rates as Almari really could not afford itself anymore.
So Ritu Beri is the first one off the block and this one is a real bargain for him. The Beri label has created waves internationally; enough for Paris-based FTV to want to promote the designer through weeks of unfettered Beri fashion show coverage. FTV beams to every part of the world, Kingfisher retails in 55 countries, so it makes economic sense for Mallya to sponsor this show to push the branding internationally. For two weeks the Kingfisher label has been running prominently on FTV and will continue to do so as long as the Ritu Beri show runs on air.
Wearing a lime green Ritu Beri suit, Mallya was in an expansive mood in Paris. " We are looking beyond just doing fashion shows. Being a global Indian brand, Kingfisher is interested in promoting Indian fashion overseas. Fashion should become the property of Kingfisher."
Almari's other three designers are also slated to do collections for Kingfisher as and when its king wills them to do so. But one suspects he will throw his weight behind their efforts in such a generous manner only if he gets the kind of mileage the Beri show has got the brand so far.
Mallya's companies supply the exchequer with a very generous Rs 7,000 crore annually as excise duty. But overriding the healthy statistics is the overpoweringly lavish persona of its owner. India's strait-laced and conservative millionaires club look on in awe at Mallya's pasha style, somewhat nonplussed at his determination to live life on his terms. There is nothing coy about Mallya. There seems no end to his spending sprees.
He is your original Yankee South Indian, unfazed by criticism and typically insouciant, " I am what I am, I do what I do, I cannot change the way I am. How I live is my business. What should be of concern to people is the state of my businesses. My company United Breweries is in fine fettle; shareholders are very happy, the share prices are up despite the cracks in the market. We have, in fact, just bought three major breweries, which are going to make us stronger than before." Mallya shrugs, " What can I do if people talk about me. Anything I do makes news."
His by now famous inroads into the Art of Living, a spiritual way of life propounded by the famous Sri Sri Ravi Shanker, became the subject of endless speculation. And why not? Who could resist the story-spinning possibilities of the born-again religious discovery of India's most lavish lifestyle pageantry.
" I was always religious. I have been visiting Tirupathi temple for 31 years. For 14 years I have been visiting Sabarimala. Every year for some time I would become an Ayappa devotee -- no liquor, no meat, only black clothes and barefoot all the time. Sri Sri Ravi Shanker has only enhanced my appreciation of the divine, which I always worshipped. He helps me have a better understanding with God. Guruji has an unique ability to blend spirituality with reality. How many gurus would accept that I am in the liquor business and yet help me find the spiritual path like he has?"
So what is the next big whopper from this lifestyle guru? When you hear what it is, the eyebrows shoot up. This is big! A sports car called Kingfisher! To be manufactured by Mahindras, but to be sold under the Kingfisher name. Limited editions only. For more details, sports car aficionados will have to wait for its release in October when the car is ready to rev. Meanwhile it reinforces the image that Mallya likes to live life in the fast lane. Like he drawls with his trademark wink, " I like to live life kingsize."
