Will form social enterprise to bid for Rhythm House: Anand Mahindra

MUMBAI: Enthused by Twitterati's reaction over his proposal to crowd-fund the acquisition and restoration of the Nirav Modi-owned Rhythm House, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra today said a social enterprise would be created to bid for the iconic facility in the city.

"Stunned by the response to this Tweet. Its clear that people love this city and its iconic landmarks and will work to preserve them. The sheer number of replies and the resources and skills wielded by the respondents tells me this is do-able. Of course, we now have to make it happen," Mahindra Tweeted.

Welcoming ideas from people, he said he would like to keep the initiative transparent and participative.



"Let's use Twitter as the Townhall where ideas can be contributed and progress shared. A special handle will be created for this. Requesting my colleague Jay Shah, head, cultural outreach at the Mahindra Group along with his colleague to be the initial secretariat for this project.

"They will draw up a sequence of actions to be taken towards the goal of creating a social enterprise and bid for the facility," Mahindra said.

Yesterday, Mahindra, had Tweeted, "if the ED is going to eventually auction the Rhythm House, how about a bunch of us in Mumbai collectively acquiring it restoring it and turning it into a performance venue for rising musicians and a hangout for music lovers."

Soon personalities like noted chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Congress' former member of Parliament Milind Deora and noted singer-composer-lyricist Vishal Dadlani, among others tweeted back in support.

Dadlani Tweeted "Sir, I'm in. I'll happily chip in, curate, organise management, and do whatever else is needed. It could be a centre for a whole new generation of music and musicians. Much needed."

Extending his support, chef Kapoor Tweeted "Great idea. The city needs these kinds of places. I'm willing to help in whichever way I can."

The iconic building in the Kala Ghoda area of south Mumbai was bought by Modi last year and was seized by the ED following the over Rs 13,000-crore alleged fraud in PNB.

The Rhythm House is one of the 21 properties of Nirav Modi worth Rs 524 crore seized by the law enforcing agencies so far.