Mumbai: Deepa Bar in Irla, which was once the most glamorous ladies dance bar in the metropolis and also a place where cricket bookies and match-fixers rubbed shoulders with cricketers, has now been converted into a Kali temple. About two months ago, bar owner-turned-bigtime builder Sudhakar Shetty decided to open a full-fledged temple, with three ‘pujaris’ in attendance.
Shetty told the FPJ on Tuesday, “Earlier, we had a small temple dedicated to Kalimata on our premises. Pooja was being performed daily. For several years after we shut down Deepa Bar, the place was lying idle. I wanted to put it to good use and hence decided to open a bigger temple of Goddess Kali, which is open to the public.” Asked about his plans to open a Baba Ramdev Yoga and Ayurvedic Centre, Shetty said that too was coming up near the temple, where medicines would be made available to people at extremely low rates. “Work on the health centre is going on and it should be open to the public in another three months,” he added.
Deepa Bar was famous earlier in the locality
Deepa Bar was popular for its lissome dancers. At any given time, there used to be at least 25 brightly clad dancers, shaking a leg to the latest Bollywood numbers under disco lights, on whom inebriated patrons showered lakhs of rupees every night. In fact, the hotel employed several people whose job was to pick up the notes bearing the countenance of Mahatma Gandhi from the dance floor. Industrialists and Bollywood personalities were regulars at this place, spread over 4,500 sq ft. The USP of the joint was that it remained open till the wee hours, with the cops conveniently looking the other way. The star attraction was Tarranum, a dancer with stunning looks who arrived in style, in a chauffeur-driven limousine. Her name was closely linked with several top-notch cricketers, including a Sri Lankan player.
After a series of controversies, Shetty decided to down the shutters and diversify into the real estate business. A heavily-guarded man, he heads the Sahana Group, which has undertaken several Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects, including the one near the old passport office at Worli; at the same time, in partnership with the Oberoi Group, he is also involved in the building of a five-star hotel in the area. He is reported to own iron ore mines in Jharkhand, where he rubs shoulders with some top politicians. A leading politician from Haryana is also believed to have teamed up with Shetty.
