On a warm night in Hyderabad, the energy levels inside Hyderabad’s newly-launched club Big Bull are about to raise temperatures further. DJ Avantika Bakshi even brings out her hand-fan mid-set, as friends and party-goers dance behind the decks on stage.
As Bakshi spins everything from Rufus Du Sol to a Zamna Soundsystem remix of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” by DJ-producers Roziyo and Armonica, it’s safe to say the joint is jumping. A saxophonist appears in a second set, almost like a party trick that ensures all the phones are out and recording. There are hundreds in attendance for the invite-only opening night with the two-level, 30,000 square-foot space equipped to comfortably house about 1,200 people.
Hyderabad has steadily become a home for passionate electronic music fans—it hosted the Indian edition of Dutch EDM festival Sensation in 2018 at Gachibowli Stadium and has seen club spaces like Prism and Carpe Diem come up. To end 2024, Quake Arena opened its doors, hosting the likes of hot-ticket artist Ben Bohmer in December to over 4,000, boasting a massive 13,000 square feet LED on its ceiling for enhanced visuals.
It’s safe to say the nightclub’s relevance is stronger than ever, likely inspiring a project like Big Bull, led by Good Leaf Hospitality, the team behind spaces like Prism and Quake Arena. In the works for three years, it’s still evident that, like any massive venue for music in India, it’s still very much a gamble.
The hospitality company’s co-founder Arjun Nair—also part of electronic duo Answer—is buzzing around the neighboring restaurant Moai (an Easter Island-inspired dining experience) a day prior to Big Bull’s opening night. He settles in for a meal and our interview. “The idea behind Big Bull was to bring the latest in technology, in sound, in all kinds of experiences, to the country,” he says.
With his company’s co-founder Mohit Agarwal, Nair seems to have a formula for success that leans on their tried-and-tested marketing game, a strong network of friends, influencers, and seasoned club-goers, plus curation across genres. That includes international DJs, commercial Telugu bands, EDM nights, corporate parties, and everything in between that can fill up the space.
This week, Big Bull will inaugurate IPs like Futur Fridays, starting with producer Sickflip and Film on Apr. 4, 2025, followed by Box Office Saturdays – kicking off with hip-hop/electronic producer Karan Kanchan on Apr. 5, 2025.
Add to that Big Bull’s “tech-forward” USP—the internationally-coveted Funktion-One Vero series sound system that delivers sublime sound wherever you’re standing and moving kinetic LED panels on the ceiling—and you’ve got a premium experience.
The club’s co-founders and managing partners Ramaraju Kallepalli, Shashidhar Kasi, and Sai Surepally have had their share of jetting off to party destinations like Ibiza, Dubai, and New York, so they say that there was a need to improve “the spirit of celebration” in nightclubs here.
India’s nightlife scene and electronic music festivals have increasingly been leaning on technology to elevate the experience, from the focus on high-grade lighting and visuals at DGTL India to a 3D holographic stage at 2024’s Those Who Know They Know festival. More recently, drone light shows have become a fixture at such events, with Alan Walker embracing the technology for his India tour, and Absolut creating a 3D sky projection at the Zamna India show in Mumbai in March 2025.
Surepally urges that “places have to come up” eventually in India if people who have gone clubbing around the world want something closer to home. It helps that Hyderabad is booming with massive property expansions, corporate offices and residential complexes coming up all around, reflecting the Telangana capital’s intent to woo investment from all quarters and compete with cities like Bengaluru.
Telugu folks are, as Surepally puts it, “doing economically well” as they perhaps return from earning in different parts of the world to settle down in Hyderabad. “They’re bringing back the experiences and that energy with them. It’s a mix of people’s energy and what we’ve built, right? I’m waiting for that moment where these two converge,” he adds with a smile.
The way he sees it, the venue can be as much of a crowd-puller as the curation. “That’s why we invested so much in the technology,” Surepally says. Nair, who has 15 years of hospitality experience, also feels confident that there are enough people in India who are “well-learned and well-traveled and don’t mind spending to experience something profound.” If people are looking for what is new and next in the future of nightlife in India, Nair says they’re building that bridge with the experiences they’ll host. And it certainly won’t come cheap.
Open from Wednesday to Sunday from 7 pm onwards, there’s likely a higher cover charge compared to most clubs, but Nair sees it as something that caters to the sit-down crowd as well as the clubbers. The second level at the club is dotted with tables and elevated booths that let people view (and hear) the action, but from a cordoned-off space. “One level is entirely dedicated to the hardcore fans, and one level is dedicated to people who would love to hear music, but maybe not dance,” Nair says.
All this was built at a cost of tens of crores of rupees, so a price approximation of ₹4,000 for two is Big Bull’s way of giving off a premium vibe. Nair calls it a “curse” that in the Indian club market, entry fees aren’t as high as their counterparts in Europe, even if they can offer a similar level of experience. “The whole guestlist culture, not charging people entry… navigating around that is the challenge, but I think that’s something we are up for, because we’re sure about the product,” Nair says.
For Big Bull, “the product” is this immersive experience that makes you feel like it’s just you and the music. Each time there’s the slow lowering and raising of LED cylinders, it feels futuristic. One thing’s for sure — artists and DJs have to bring their A-game if they’re going to be heard on this massive sound system.
Stepping out of the club a little past midnight as bouncers point the way out, there’s a buzz in the air that feels like pride. Hyderabad’s residents are clicking selfies, excited about their new discovery. Time will tell how a massive undertaking like Big Bull will pay off, but for now, it’s charging ahead.