Fans who were looking forward to AR Rahman’s rescheduled concert after it was cancelled due to rains last month, were doubly disappointed on Sunday, September 10. Chaos reigned at the venue on Palace Road in Adityaram Nagar located on the East Coast Road (ECR). Disappointed and angry fans took to social media and described an ordeal which they say was brought about by poor organisation. Many said that there was massive overcrowding, and scores of people were not able to enter the venue despite reaching hours before the concert started.
There were also allegations of people getting injured in the commotion to enter the venue, one of the attendees said that they saw children being separated from their families. Many women took to social media and said they were molested in the melee. Angry fans are now demanding accountability from AR Rahman and the organisers of the Marakumma Nenjam concert, ACTC Events.
“Never have I experienced such a panicking and distressing concert in my life. An event where I found myself getting stampeded among a huge wild crowd who were very cruel (not everyone but a few), wrote one fan on X adding, “I saw a kid who got lost in the petrifying stampede crowd and was crying so badly, pain all over…”
Complaints of poor crowd control, no seating arrangement, over-selling of tickets in comparison to the venue’s capacity, lack of demarcated zones according to ticket prices, lack of parking facilities and more have also surfaced, with many saying that despite having spent several thousand rupees on the tickets, they were unable to enter the premises.
“Imagine paying 2000 rupees for gold tickets and this is what you get? What a shit show. Had to return back without even entering. #ARRConcert #marakumanenjam,” one fan said on X.
Another person echoed similar sentiments. “The ARR concert-the absolute shitshow. It got to a point where it was actually unsafe for people. We saw people faint, cry, panic and get anxiety attacks. A refund wouldn’t cover what we had to endure. I hope everyone at the concert gets home safe and the ones in charge are held accountable.”
Another fan, a woman, alleged that she and several others were molested by men who used the chaos as a cover, adding that the “We were struggling to breathe and were also violated. The fan in me died today.”
Others raised the issue of being unable to even enter due to overcrowding despite having paid for expensive tickets near the stage. Some alleged that due to lack of demarcated zones and bouncers, those who’d paid for tickets closer to the stage were edged out.
AR Rahman is yet to respond to the outpouring of anger from fans, while ACTC, put out a short statement.
The concert was originally scheduled for August 12, but was cancelled at the last minute due to rains, leaving many fans who were already on their way to the same venue at the time heartbroken.
Read: AR Rahman 'Marakkuma Nenjam' Chennai concert cancelled due to rains, fans heartbroken