January 1st, 2009
Upcoming starlet Shradha Sharma was refused entry to a suburban 7-star hotel in Juhu, Mumbai last week. Insiders say that Shradha (who, along with several other top heroines, was signed on by a prominent club having branches all over the country and abroad for the New Year's Eve celebrations) had gone to the exclusive hotel in Juhu along with her fashion designer. Shradha is a regular visitor to the 7-star hotel's restaurant which is frequented by Mumbai's filmi crowd and media persons.Sources say that Shradha had finished some shopping around Juhu for her New Year's Eve performance and wanted to have her regular juice and sandwich at the elite restaurant. She was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and slippers. Shradha said, “I was wearing designer slippers purchased in Milan for which I had paid about Rs. 3000! They are very comfortable and as I had been rehearsing all day, my legs were hurting. I never expected the Marriott security to equate designer sandals as ordinary slippers.” Shradha had been rehearsing non-stop for the past ten days preceding her New Year's performance at Baroda and word is that she is being paid an astronomical amount.
A senior Marriott official who clarified the issue on condition of anonymity said the hotel has a strict dress code. “This is to protect the privacy of our international clientele and ensure that the Juhu-beach crowd doesn't walk in. Unfortunately, Shradha Sharma, who is our regular guest, was mistaken for someone else by overzealous security that has been on high alert since the terror strike in Mumbai. It was a mistake,” he conceded.
Flynn Remedios, Shradha's publicist and media manager, confirmed this incident and said that Shradha didn't want to register a formal complaint with the hotel management regarding the discrimination or harassment by the security guards. The hotel management declined to comment on the incident.
