The music night which was originally slated to be held on August 12, 2023 was cancelled due to excessive rain.It was later announced that AR Rahman’s concert would take place on September 10, 2023 and it was attended by thousands of people.
The event was held in Pannaiyr on Sunday. The live concert became a night of bitter experience for many of his fans including women, children, youth and elders. They bought tickets ranging from VIP Rs 25,000, Premium Lounge Rs 50,000, General Access Rs 500, Silver ticket Rs 1,000, Gold Ticket Rs 2000, Diamond ticket Rs 5,000 and Platinum ticket Rs 10,000. It is alleged that the organisers sold tickets for 10,000 odd seats, over one lakh were sold. It was the main reason for the chaos, many were denied entry even with premium tickets. The fans took it to the social media alleging poor organisational planning, over selling of entry tickets only with a motive of making fast bucks.
One twitter handler said “ The biggest scam in 2023 # Marakkuma Nenjam – Parents lost their kids,
many people fainted, many suffered blood injuries, 4-6 km distance form parking bay , many people
were not allowed inside the concert area although they had passes. Fans were abused by organisers
and police. “.
Another netizen Harry said “Should the public suffer so much for the sake of concert. Think about an ambulance or people travelling in emergency getting struck in this traffic. Event organisers and authorities ,who have permission to this event at this venue, to be held responsible. OMR, a busiest thoroughfare, has witnessed a worst traffic jam on that day. Even the Chief Minister’s convoy to face the heat.
Some fans told your reporter “ no proper parking at the venue and many were found returning home after the arduous 4-5 hour journey to the concert venue. Several attendees told news media that they parked their cars on the way and walked nearly 3km to reach the venue because of the traffic and no parking availability at the premises”.
Praveen @Prav_AL said “ what happened today was an absolute scam @arrahman. You literally scammed thousands of people and took us all for granted. #ARRahaman Don’t you even have a basic background check team to see what the capacity can hold ?
In a one of the video that went viral, a visibly displeased fan was complaining “One of the worst arrangements I have ever seen. We’ve been stranded for 8 hours in total.”
At the venue fans with cars trying to enter but the person at the gate says, “if there is parking we will allow you. There is no parking here.”
By 7 PM the venue was jam packed with many more coming in. Many people who bought tickets were waiting for hours on one end and could not come in.
In the wake of condemnation in social media, as a damage control measure, Rahman issued a vague statement on X on September 11, 2023, which did not come across as an apology or a show of empathy towards the fans regarding the events that transpired the previous evening. He did not mention anything about issuing a refund, he just posted. He said “ Dearest Chennai Makkale (people of Chennai) those of you who purchased tickets and were not able to enter owing to unfortunate circumstanfes, please do share a copy of your ticket purchase to arr4chennai@btos.in along with your grievances. Our team will respond asap. Some people call me G.O.A.T”. .. let me be the sacrificial goat this time for all of us to wake up…”.
The event managers ACTC Events said in X platform “ we are grateful to Rahman and the incredible and overhelming response from the audienfes, making the show a grand success. Those, who could not attend due to overcrowding, our sincere apologies. We take full responsibility and are accountable”. They did not lesson from the previous Coimbatore event. Poor management and seat allocation by the organisers resulted in the attendees breaking the barricades and indulging in arguments with the bouncers. Videos capturing this disruptive scene had become viral.
Meanwhile, TN DGP Shankar Jiwal has instructed Tambaram police commissioner’s office to conduct a probe covering safety , precautionary measures taken at the venue, traffic arrangements, parking , medical facilities and question the organsiers on the above areas.
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