Luxury, says Sonica Malhotra, the pretty 32-year-old director of the MBD group, after carefully weighing her thoughts, is a continuous graph that one traverses. One milestone in that journey is the Radisson MBD hotel in Noida, owned by the group.

The five-star hotel, she says candidly, was the first such to come up in the area. Thus it was probably seen as symbolising luxury, at least in that part, but the fact is the Radisson brand is not associated with luxury globally.

Monica, her elder sibling by five years, intercedes: “Luxury cannot be defined only by price or brand. Nobody will pay a price for an unknown brand.” But a brand could become associated with luxury, provided it evolves itself.

There’s clear distinction, she says, between premium and luxury, citing their upcoming projects in Ludhiana and Bangalore. The former is premium, and the latter luxury. Besides price, another factor typifies luxury. “Luxury usually comes in limited edition,” adds Monica.

She explains with the help of the familiar global auto brand: Mercedes Benz, which offers car classes at different price points. One class may be commonplace (as in Germany where Merc cabs are everywhere), another may be premium and yet another luxury. “A car of C or E class will be categorised differently from an S class car,” says the elder sibling. But then a Maybach will probably be in the ultimate league. (And presumably S class is luxury since she has one in her garage.) Even so, there is luxury and then there is more luxury; so she does her daily commute in a Porsche Cayenne.

Yet, she admits younger sister Sonica is probably more of a connoisseur of luxury than her. Monica nevertheless admits to a weakness for going in for the best that money can buy. She has a little problem though. “I hardly get anything in my size when it comes to clothes. So I design my own clothes. But as far as accessories go, both of us have pretty similar tastes,” she says. Big, chunky watches are one such commonality, with the elder one favouring a Franck Muller Master Square series on that particular day while the younger sibling sported a Technomarine. Of course, neither was willing to disclose the price, though the Franck Muller ranges between $13,500 and $21,700 in the US while a Technomarine, at its entry level costs around Rs 40,000 and could go up to Rs 5 lakh.

From a mofussil existence in Jalandhar to a life of luxury has been a long journey for them. Their father, Ashok Kumar Malhotra, began his entrepreneurial run with a small bookstore in the Punjab town in 1957. The group’s genesis lies in the shop named Malhotra Book Depot, which inspired the later acronym, MBD.

Today MBD is a market leader in low-priced cram books for students, many of whom swear by their efficacy in helping them get past examination papers. The business boomed, and the father took a strategic decision to shift to Delhi in 1988, with the elder daughter diving right into the business a year later, while still in school.

“She (Sonica) is the studious one, not me,” quips Monica, who completed her graduation in commerce from Delhi University’s Jesus and Mary College. Sonica followed soon after and then went on to do an MBA in finance from the International Management Institute (IMI) in Delhi and further for a programme in leadership development at Harvard University two years ago.

It was always a given that the siblings would eventually inherit the business, but the diversifications — first the hotel and then the still-in-the-works luxury retailing projects — were probably conceived by their father for Sonica, as she was put directly in charge of the hotel business. “We were groomed to take over the business and there was no rebellious streak,” asserts Sonica. The hotel in Noida also marked the group’s first move from mass market to niche. Both sisters admit the hotel is thriving in absence of any competition in the vicinity.

Both have their fields demarcated. Yet, they consult each other before taking every business decision. It is largely the elder sister who looks after the publishing empire and related businesses, while the hospitality, real estate and retailing businesses are in the care of the younger one. Punjab, of course, is in focus, both having spent a significant part of their growing up years in the state: two projects are in development there, one in Ludhiana and the other in their hometown Jalandhar.

Sonica dismisses any suggestion that the move into luxury retail was motivated by a desire to raise the group’s brand profile from mass market to up market. “Luxury remains a niche. And there is no disinterest in the main business. Right now, this generation is not disinterested in the traditional business.” For the record, the publishing business is still the group’s mainstay, yielding 70 per cent of its turnover.

The father may have conceived the idea, but it was Sonica who decided the brands she eventually tied up with. The portfolio of luxury brands to be housed in its upcoming Bangalore project named MBD Zephyr include Saks, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Ferragamo, Dunhill and Escada.

She is unwilling though to put a figure to the total investment required, saying that project costs are yet to be crystallised. However, Sonica expects breakeven within one and a half years after the projects get fully operational.

“And yes, we will buy most of our stuff from there,” says Sonica, who is already a patron of Chanel for watches, Jimmy Choo for shoes, Louis Vuitton for handbags, and Tom Ford Black Orchid and Dior Addict for perfumes. They form an integral part of her platter of personal accessories.

She is unabashed about targeting people with deep pockets in her new niche ventures: “I am not looking at the mass market in retail or real estate. One has to be a niche player and we are looking at 10-year horizon.” The long period is necessitated by the huge capital requirements in execution of the group’s plans, which include hotels in Mumbai and Hyderabad and renovation of the Noida hotel, in itself a three-year task, she points out.

The two Jalandhar-born sisters are married to two brothers, alliances that Monica jocularly says were inspired by the Bollywood movie Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Tarun and Naveen Kandhari, their spouses, own and operate the Ozone chain of health clubs. The sisters assert that neither they nor their spouses have any interest in each other’s businesses. “I don’t think it’s healthy to mix businesses within family,” points out Monica, a mother of two and a kathak exponent like her sister. But kathak has now taken a back seat because of their personal and professional preoccupations.

The two sisters are extremely protective of their personal space, especially their home, refusing a request for a photo shoot at their home. Both couples live with their in-laws in Sundar Nagar, one of Delhi’s toniest neighbourhoods. That, as anyone who is familiar with the capital’s social circuit, will know is a world far removed from Mai Hira Gate in Jalandhar where MBD first set up shop. zz

tejeeshbehl@mydigitalfc.com