The king of good times on the not-so-good times

'One of the businesses I was involved in failed, sadly. There were other businesses that still exist, which are hugely successful. Should I, therefore, be a hypocrite?'

'No more dreaming big'

Even as the law enforcement agencies, bankers and former Kingfisher employees are baying for his blood, liquor baron Vijay Mallya remains unfazed.

Mallya claims he is a 'patriot', and is in a ‘forced exile’ in London.

Mallya had left India on March 2, days before the Supreme Court heard the plea of a clutch of state-owned banks seeking the recovery of over Rs 9,000 crore from his group firms. 

The consortium alleged in the Supreme Court that the industrialist was not cooperating in the investigation of cases lodged against him and was averse to disclosing his foreign assets. 

In an interview with the Financial Times, that lasted four hours, during the course of which the newspaper said he smoked thin cigarillos, Mallya spoke about his forced exile and made every effort to portray that he is targeted for having a flamboyant lifestyle.

Here are some interesting points he mentioned in the FT interview.

• 'The media, which hailed me as the ‘King of good times’ has now turned me into a ‘King of bad times’.'
  
  
• 'I am not a hypocrite but a very private, simple guy.'

• ‘This business of being a high-roller is bollocks. It’s nonsense -- a figment of everybody’s imagination. I am a very private, simple guy. People are completely swayed and influenced by the professional side of me which is misunderstood to be my personal side.’

• Dubbing himself to be a victim of his own image, Mallya said,  ‘I am a small fry… but I’m the big fish that people want to catch -- that's the trouble.’

• 'One of the businesses I was involved in failed, sadly. There were other businesses that still exist, which are hugely successful. Should I, therefore, be a hypocrite? Because one of these businesses failed, should I live my life differently? It is what it is. I am not a hypocrite.'

• ‘People are saying we shouldn’t have this lifestyle, I shouldn’t have my birthday party. But what did I spend on my birthday party? My birthday party and what was spent on it wouldn’t even move the needle.’

• ‘Every time my name comes up, it’s me with a whole bunch of pretty girls and models. Hey, let me tell you why! I am brand ambassador for my Kingfisher in a media dark environment. The reason why I endorsed my own brand was because I wanted to create an aspirational value around the brand identity and the brand image.’

• 'I agree Kingfisher Airlines owes money to banks. I am neither a borrower nor a judgement debtor. Why am I a defaulter in spite of a settlement offer?'
  
  
• 'I would definitely love to go back to India.'
  
  
• 'The allegations against me are blatantly false and baseless.'

• ‘The media -- the electronic media, in particular -- has made such a big show of me that I guess all constituents in government needed to then respond by being seen to do something. Television channels are saying I stole £900m and ran away from India. How ludicrous can that be!’

• ‘Maybe I should have never have gone down this route at all, in hindsight. I am sometimes a victim of my own image. But I can’t do very much about it, can I?’
• ‘I get calls from people in India every day saying, ‘Oh my God, what if this happens to us?’

• ‘But, if the government makes circumstances where it is impossible for me to go and get justice, then I just have to make do with what I have.

• 'No more dreaming big.’