French Tuesdays Mumbai: Sexy people, too many rules

On the way to Zinc bar for the launch of French Tuesdays on April 26, a group of us are discussing what this member's club is really all about.

One of my friends says her colleague was a member in São Paolo. "He told me it was basically a dating event," she says, raising an eyebrow.

Another friend who knows members in other cities says it is an exclusive club known for organizing "super fun parties" in New York, the city where French Tuesdays was founded.

Other insights into the group are offered but ultimately nobody really knows what to expect until we arrive.

The organizers of French Tuesdays have described themselves as a "social movement", a "classy social networking phenomenon" and a "lifestyle brand" on their website. They also pride themselves on their insider knowledge of the world's most happening metropolises: Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo -- cities where the group has a presence. 

The core activity of the club is a monthly party, which is held on a Tuesday in local bars, clubs or restaurants. To attend parties regularly you need to be a member, which requires sponsorship by other members.

One can also attend parties as a member's guest, as long as the event is not a "member's only" night. Once a member, a person can sponsor up to six members a year.

There are no membership fees and members get a basic profile on the group's website, through which they can interact with other members.

The profile of members is highly international and well-traveled. When a new chapter opens for the first time, for example, the first round of members rely on being sponsored by friends who are members in other cities. The club is tightly-networked and so has a policy of not inviting society page type guests, unless they are part of the social network of members.

Summarizing their events-managing prowess, the founders write: "This is what we do at French Tuesdays: not only do we take you to the trendiest and most beautiful venues in the city, but we also introduce you to the newest additions of the night scene before anyone else."

Not quite nailing it the first Tuesday

In theory, Zinc in Lower Parel looks like a perfect choice for an opening. Located between Bandra and Colaba, the two competing social poles of Mumbai, Zinc is a new addition to the city's nightlife scene.

In practice, however, the venue is a let-down. The interior design feels like a tired, computer-generated template of the kind of high-end bar you can find anywhere in the world. For a club that promises members parties in beautiful venues, this definitely was the wrong choice.

Apart from being drab, the venue is also severely over-crowded -- one guest even admitted to feeling claustrophobic.

Exclusivity, which the club aims for, is always associated with small numbers. Arriving at the French Tuesdays event, however, felt like getting onto a commuter train heading to Borivali at rush hour.  Instead of pleasantly rubbing shoulders with the city's crème de la crème, guests were thrusting elbows into each others' ribs.

Not right for Mumbai?

French Tuesdays has been, according to its website, a success in cities across the world, but one gets the sense that perhaps Mumbai is going to be a less easy market for the group to penetrate.

For one, the people behind French Tuesdays don't come across as being insiders -- which is crucial if advertising yourself as being in the know.

A case in point is when one of the L.A.-based founders, Gilles Amsallem, got up onto the bar to address the gathered crowd. He started his speech by apologizing for “not speaking Indian," a remark that caused people to exchange embarrassed glances across the room.

Many guests also expressed annoyance at the heavy-handed way in which the group enforced their dress-code.

One man, a successful wine dealer from Britain, was denied entry because his shoes were not polished enough. In emails that members received from French Tuesdays before the launch, the group repeatedly stressed -- by way of capital letters and bold script -- that members had to come dressed elegantly.
 
This is not the kind of paternalistic tone that jet-setting Mumbaikars, who read Vogue and GQ, appreciate. This is summarized by an invitee who asks bluntly: “If everyone [coming to the event] is really so cool surely they can be trusted to dress well themselves?”

For a club which is all about keeping many social profiles out, it may struggle with keeping glitzy Mumbaikars in.