News Tamil Nadu

“Worst Experience”: AR Rahman’s Marakkuma Nenjam Turns Into A Nightmare: Fans Left Scammed, Children Go Missing, Women Molested

September 11, 2023
The Commune 
Image Source: Video grab from News 24x7 Tamil

Film music composer AR Rahman’s Marakkuma Nenjam (Will the heart forget?) concert at Paniyur, outside of Chennai, on 10 September 2023 turned out to be a nightmare for the fans. 

The concert was initially scheduled to take place on 12 August 2023. However, it was cancelled due to excessive rain. It was later announced that the concert would take place on 10 September 2023 and was attended by thousands of people.

 

What Happened?

The concert was scheduled to begin at 7 PM. Many of them were said to have been caught in traffic jams for more than 4 hours. 

No Parking

There was 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. 

In this video, we see a visibly displeased fan complaining. He says, “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.”

Police are also seen to be trying to navigate the traffic and are seen diverting the people to another location to try for parking. People were going in circles to find a parking spot and were seen to be visibly very angry at the arrangements. 

No Entry To Venue

Several of them were not allowed inside despite having purchased tickets worth 5000/10000 rupees. ACTC Events, organisers of the concert, were slammed for overselling the tickets. One of them speaking to the news reporter said that people were sitting anywhere and everywhere and not according to their ticket type. Here in this video, the lady says that “in the Diamond Seat, people who had bought other tickets were seated. There is a 2km long queue to go inside the venue. Those who are leaving are saying that since there is too much crowd, there might be a stampede, so please leave the premises. So we are also leaving. The organisers have to be answerable for creating such a situation.”

Another disgruntled fan said, “There is absolutely no way we can go in, we wanted to at least have a glimpse of the star but we couldn’t. If they sell 50,000 tickets for an event that can house 20,000 people, this is what will happen. We didn’t expect such a programme from AR Rahman. We came with high expectations but it was all a waste. We can still overlook the money and time wasted in the process, but what if someone had died inside? Even those who have parked their cars are unable to take it out. Everyone is making money out of it, the organisers must be held accountable.”

Another lady spoke to news media and said, “I got this tag (points to her wrist) at 3.30 PM and they asked me to go to the venue, Spring City at 4. When I reached there at 4, they said the venue was full.”

“They could have intimated if there was a traffic-related problem beforehand and asked us to come in early. They (organisers) have our phone numbers. They could have at least done this, see how many people have been discomforted. Elders, children, people of all ages are being subjected to this kind of treatment.”

The fans also pointed out the fact that when the concert was cancelled for the first time, “he shared a video on his social media and that he was smiling and laughing in it. He didn’t feel any form of regret that it was cancelled. This is a scam,” they said.

Another lady said, “Thankfully I came out, there is no space to even stand. Had I stayed in there for one more minute, my son would have died. They were pressing on his head and squeezing! Are they even human beings? We have paid 10000 for the ticket and there is no proper segregation of seats based on the ticket type, everyone can sit anywhere! I have paid 30000 for 3 tickets, we have come out just to save our lives.”

When the fans questioned the organisers, they were given a reply saying, “We have no idea about this” 

Children Missing, Stampede & Women Molested

Many claimed that women were molested in the stampede and parents lost their children in the crowd. It has been reported that many of the attendees experienced suffocation and some of them even fainted. 

 

Fans also questioned why the organisers and AR Rahman’s team couldn’t check if the venue could handle a large number of people. 

Many children went missing and several individuals, and parents experienced panic attacks due to the crowd inside the venue. 

The fans who were able to enter the concert venue (many of them reached early to the venue, by 2-3 PM) complained of poor audio.

Fan Reactions

Many fans took to X asking AR Rahman to issue an apology and statement regarding the mismanagement. Fans demanded a refund from the organisers and narrated their harrowing experience to news reporters at the venue. Many of them also shared their views on X.

Bharatiya Janata Party Youth Wing, Tamil Nadu President Ramesh Shivaa took to X to complain about how his relatives faced the trouble. He posted, “My sister and brother-in-law just returned from AR Rahman concert, they told me how AR Rahman has Shamelessly Scammed them. 1) Doesn’t matter what Ticket you had bought, cause there was not a Single Person checking Tickets so it was total Chaos, so everyone could be anywhere. 2) They said they have put 50,000 chairs, but there was less than 5000 chairs, also they probably sold way more than that supposedly. 3) Total Stampede, my sister says she felt she was going to get Crushed from the Crowd and there was Not a Single Volunteer. 4) Car parking was absolutely awful with again not a Single Volunteer to help. 5) Scamster AR Rahman to cut his losses for the fact that his last Concert was cancelled, has Oversold and Under Delivered, not even taking into consideration the Safety of his Fans. It is Time AR Rahman gets down from his High Horse and refunds the money back to his fans. The event was organized by ACTC Events, you guys should be Sued.”

Many fans came all the way from Madurai, Vellore, Bangalore and failed to get inside the venue. They complained that it was unsafe, children were crying and dangerous for elders, that a stampede could happen any time. They were all returning home after spending all those hours travelling and waiting. Some of them were separated from their families, they also said that there was no network at the venue and they were unable to contact their family members.

 

 

Despite all this chaos, the concert was conducted as per schedule. It was reported that something similar happened during the Coimbatore concert by the same artist.

Organisers Response

The organisers ACTC Events posted a very lame reply trivialising the traumatic experience from yesterday’s event. They posted, “Grateful to Chennai and the legendary AR Rahman Sir! The incredible response, the overwhelming crowd made our show a massive success. Those who couldn’t attend on overcrowding, Our sincere apologies. We take full responsibility and accountable. We are with you. #MarakkumaNenjam”

AR Rahman on the other hand, did not post any apology for the great inconvenience caused to the public. But he reshared a video of a fan who had been able to enter and be a part of the event.

This was how the organisers behaved when they were questioned why people had to stand and there was no seat for hundreds of attendees, especially when they claim that over 45000 chairs were arranged – they responded rudely, shouted at the attendees, and showed scant respect for those asking the right questions.

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