Meeting Rahul Gandhi remained a mission impossible for Top Gun Tom as he left India today.
According to sources, one of the key demands in Tom Cruise’s concert rider was to get the Congress leader to attend the Taj Palace Hotel roof-top party that the Hollywood star hosted on Sunday night.
For the uninitiated, a concert rider is a document listing what facilities must be available to a star and is sent to his promoters and the venue where the celebrity stays. Cruise, here to promote Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, stayed in the presidential suite in the Taj Palace Hotel and Viacom 18 was his official host in India.
“Getting Rahul Gandhi to attend the party nearly topped Cruise’s concert rider,” said a Viacom official who handled the star’s concert rider. “We approached his (Rahul’s) office through a top Mumbai businessman-politician and another Maharashtra Congressman who is a junior minister, but did not get a favourable response,” said the Viacom 18 source.
“As a top Hollywood star, he (Cruise) is used to fawning attention from top political leaders in the Asian countries he has visited so far,” said a Mumbai Congress leader who was also approached for help. So he may have been miffed, a source said.
Cruise, however, got all the attention from Bollywood A-listers and the Taj hotel staff, who faithfully followed his demands for “special arrangements”.
Sources said the 49-year-old actor wanted bright lights in the Taj presidential suite. “He said that the presidential suite should get plenty of sun and wanted additional lamps installed so there was not a patch of darkness or shadow in the suite,” a Taj official said.
He also “specifically” asked for “organic stuff” as far as possible, “be it coffee beans, tea, soaps or any items such as fruits, chocolates and other small eats”, the hotel official said. “There was a request to maintain the room temperature at 23° Celsius at all times.”
The concert rider also said that Cruise wanted a full-fledged personal kitchen, a personal gym and an exclusive make-up room on the floor of the presidential suite that overlooks the Apollo Bunder and the Gateway of India.
He had brought along with him his personal chef, trainer, stylist and make-up person.
Cruise seemed happy with the arrangements, the hotel source said.
On Sunday, the actor got a personal invitation from Mukesh Ambani at the Taj hotel party to be his guest next year, sources said.
Comments