RPM Club at Vasant Vihar shuts down due to lack of business

One of the oldest nightclubs and bars popular among several Delhiites for trying their “first-ever drink” or as their “first party place” – RPM Club in Vasant Vihar – is now shut. Priyank Sukhija, the owner and founder of the club, shared the news on Facebook and wrote, “End of an era. We shut RPM at Vasant Vihar after 20 years today.” RPM is the latest in the list of nightlife hangouts in the city that were shut during the pandemic.Last year, around six dining outlets at Khan Market, faced closure due to lack of business and this was followed by more restaurants and bars shutting down across NCR.
“Shutting down RPM was a very difficult decision for me. Ever since I’ve shared the news on social media, I’ve been flooded with messages from people about how much they are going to miss this place and how many memories they have of evenings spent at RPM. But I can’t run a business purely on nostalgia and emotions that are invested in the place. For a complete one year (2021), I tried not to take this harsh decision, as it was emotionally very difficult for me, but I have to think in terms of business. How can I run other outlets when we are facing so many adversities during the pandemic? We all know that the hospitality industry has suffered the most during the last one-and-a-half-year, and it is a difficult phase for all of us. Most of us have to take such tough decisions (shutting businesses) to plan better for the future,” says Priyank.

The nightclub was opened in 2001, and Priyank says that at that time it was one of the first standalone bars and clubs in the city, and that was one of the reasons it became popular in no time. “I opened it when I was 21 and I have so many people writing to me that they had their first drink at RPM. Not just guests, but there are so many professionals, including music artistes, etc, who wrote to me saying that they started their career from here. I have been getting messages like, ‘One of the initial party places of our generation’, and ‘I have so many memories, starting from the days when we used to bunk college to hang out there. RPM was the only bar in Delhi which was famous for its crowd, music and chitchat in 2000,’ among several others,” shares Priyank.