Musician and singer Jassie Gift, on Thursday, March 14, walked off the stage after he was interrupted by the principal of the St Peter’s College in Kerala’s Kolenchery where he was invited to perform. She snatched his mic amidst the performance while Jassie and another singer were on stage. Grabbing the mic, the principal announced that Sajin Kolanjeri, his fellow singer was not allowed to perform and that the organisers violated the instruction that only Jassie should sing on stage.
Jassie was performing the popular Malayalam song ‘Annakili’ from the movie ‘Four the People’ and Sajin Kolanjeri has also rendered vocals for the original track. As Jassie was singing, Sajin hopped on stage to back him up with the chorus portions. This was when the principal interrupted them and put an end to the performance, leading Jassie to walk out of the show.
In response to this, Jassie clarified in an Instagram live that Sajin rendered supporting vocals for the original song, and on the stage at the college as well, he only reproduced what he sang originally for the track. “Art is not something one person can do. We need support from other artists to make it better,” he further added.
Sajin, who was also part of Jassie’s live, said that the incident was the first of its kind to happen in his singing career. “The principal could have communicated about the violation of the rule before or after the program. But she chose to interrupt the performance, and insulted a senior artist like Jassie Gift,” he said.
Both Jassie and Sajin also thanked the students of the college who united in protest against the insult meted out to them.
The incident sparked widespread discussion on social media with several users supporting Jassie and condemning the principal's behaviour. Talking to The Fourth, the principal later apologised to Jassie Gift and clarified that she did not mean to insult him. “It was decided that only Jassie Gift would sing after the inaugural ceremony. But after one song, his fellow singer started to sing with him. I myself went to the stage and told them about the instructions because it was a violation of the government law which lays down certain restrictions on music programs by outsiders in the college,” she added.