It’s Brother vs. Brother vs. Brother in Epic Restaurant Feud

“Typically it’s like a avenue combat,” Mr. Vivekanandhan mentioned. “Individuals say, ‘It is a sophisticated household. We simply got here right down to eat.’ ”

India prides itself on close-knit households who usually dwell collectively and run corporations side-by-side. All that togetherness can spawn epic enterprise breakups.

Ninety-one p.c of corporations listed on the Bombay Inventory Trade are household managed, and almost all small-to-medium-size corporations are owned by households, mentioned

Kavil Ramachandran,

a professor on the Indian Faculty of Enterprise in Hyderabad. By comparability, about 35% of Fortune 500 corporations are family-controlled.

Within the southern Indian metropolis of Chennai, rival branches of a household run competing variations of a snack chain, each referred to as The Grand Sweets & Snacks. The founder had two daughters, who cut up the enterprise a couple of decade in the past after their households clashed. They sliced the unique store in half by hanging plastic sheeting down the center.

Priyanga Madhan, the founder’s 38-year-old granddaughter, mentioned the breakup was inevitable as a result of she and her cousins saved preventing over the corporate’s future. She now runs half of the enterprise on behalf of her mom.

One in every of her cousins, Saravana Mahesh, 50, mentioned his department of the household now not speaks to Mrs. Madhan’s facet, even after they run into one another on the flagship store, now cut up by a concrete wall. “It’s nonetheless awkward, even after 12 years,” he mentioned.

After the founding father of the Indian conglomerate

Reliance Industries Ltd.

died in 2002, his two sons bickered a lot their mom brokered a peace deal: elder brother

Mukesh Ambani

took over the oil and petrochemicals enterprise, whereas youthful brother

Anil Ambani

received telecom and monetary companies.

The elder Mr. Ambani subsequently turned one of many nation’s richest males, even squeezing his youthful brother’s telecom enterprise with the launch of cheap wi-fi service Jio.

The three brothers behind Moonrakers agree it started as a real household endeavor. The oldest, S. Ramesh, and his then-wife based Moonrakers within the Nineteen Eighties, impressed by a go to to a pub of the identical identify that they had visited in Britain. For years, the center brother, Mr. Vivekanandhan, and the youthful one, B. Anand, took shifts there after faculty to assist construct the enterprise. It will definitely made it right into a Lonely Planet information.

In accordance with Mr. Vivekanandhan, the difficulty began when his youthful brother struck out on his personal. In 2011, Mr. Anand opened a second Moonrakers about 150 ft away. Mr. Vivekanandhan, who held the trademark, took his youthful brother to court docket. The choose ordered Mr. Anand to choose a distinct identify.

Mr. Anand, 45, went with Moonrocks. His indicators additionally name it a “unit of Moonrakers.” He mentioned he has each proper to make use of the identify after pouring years of sweat into the enterprise. In addition to, he mentioned, it was his eldest brother who thought up the identify, not Mr. Vivekanandhan. “He has a sharing drawback,” he mentioned, referring to Mr. Vivekanandhan.

The 2 older brothers had been companions for greater than a decade. Mr. Vivekanandhan managed Moonrakers and his older brother’s restaurant, Blue Elephant.

Large teams of diners had been incessantly despatched throughout the street to his brother’s bigger place, Mr. Vivekanandhan mentioned. To keep away from complicated diners, he even caught “Moonrakers” indicators outdoors his brother’s eatery.

In March, that partnership broke down over cash. Each brothers accuse each other of betrayal.

Mr. Vivekanandhan mentioned he requested for a 50/50 cut up of the income, which his older brother refused. The elder Mr. Ramesh, 57, mentioned Mr. Vivekanandhan secretly siphoned funds to purchase actual property. Mr. Vivekanandhan denies that, saying his father-in-law gave him the cash.

After a standoff, mates of Mr. Ramesh suggested him to vary his eatery’s identify or threat a lawsuit. He selected “Moonwalkers” and spray-painted over the prevailing signage, however the Moonrakers identify and brand are nonetheless clearly seen.

Mr. Vivekanandhan mentioned his eldest brother has piggybacked on his laborious work to construct a cushty life, then balked at sharing a chunk of it. “He has all the things—good automotive, good home,” he mentioned. “Now, I’ve to purchase my BMW, construct my home.”

It’s all proving baffling to vacationers, who incessantly are stopped on the road by Mr. Vivekanandhan or Mr. Anand with pitches for his or her rival eating places.

Priyanka Parti, a 38-year-old Bengaluru resident, mentioned she wished to eat on the authentic Moonrakers, however was bewildered by the competing eateries. Her husband, who swore he had dined at Moonrakers years in the past, was much more confused.

“There are three or 4 of them,” mentioned Ms. Parti. “We had no thought which one was the unique and which of them had been copies.”

A few instances in 2020, Messrs. Vivekanandhan and Anand brawled with one another on the street in entrance of befuddled prospects. Mr. Anand mentioned he generally runs over to Moonrakers to scream at his brother if he suspects him of poaching prospects between the car parking zone and his restaurant.

The oldest, Mr. Ramesh, mentioned he stays above the fray. “I really feel unhappy for these guys,” he mentioned. “They don’t have brains.”

Mr. Vivekanandhan mentioned he’s on a mission to destroy Moonwalkers and Moonrocks. In Could, he opened a Moonrakers outpost simply down the road, with underground parking, air-conditioning and a rooftop terrace. He mentioned he has cornered 75% of the entire income of the three eating places.

“They’re disturbing me,” he mentioned of his brothers. “So I’ve to present them a disturbance. Bodily. Mentally.”

At one time, Mr. Anand mentioned, all three brothers and their households would sit down for dinner. No extra.

“When cash comes, comes, comes,” he mentioned, “love goes away.”

Write to Shan Li at shan.li@wsj.com and Vibhuti Agarwal at vibhuti.agarwal@wsj.com