As multitudes of horror stories of severe mismanagement, overcrowding, and instances of sexual harassment at AR Rahman’s Chennai concert emerged, several celebrities came out in support of the Oscar-winning music composer, requesting fans to not blame him for the fiasco. Actors Karthi, Khusbhu, singers Shweta Mohan, Rakshita Suresh, composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, and Rahman’s own daughter Khatija Rahman took to social media to speak in Rahman’s defence, stating that it was the organisers of the Marakkuma Nenjam concert who should take responsibility.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, September 12, Karthi wrote, “We have known and loved Rahman sir for more than 3 decades now... What happened during the concert was unfortunate. However, knowing sir he would be immensely affected by it.” Karthi added that his family too was at the concert amid the chaos, but he was siding with AR Rahman and hoping the event organisers take responsibility. “I request all the fans to choose love over hate as Rahman sir always gave his love to all,” he said.
Actor turned politician Khushbu Sundar said that her daughter was among those who were denied entry despite possessing a diamond pass and added, “@arrahman cannot be held responsible for any of the problems that people have faced. It was a complete failure of the management who did not fathom the gravity of the overwhelmingly overflowing crowd for a #ARR live performance. Rahman has always shared love and peace through his music, his words and his actions.” She also urged people to stand with the music director.
Music director Yuvan Shankar Raja also showed his support to Rahman and said, “As a fellow musician, I empathise with the situation and stand by AR Rahman, considering the unfortunate events.” He further emphasised on the need for event organisers to make improvements in the future, to ensure safety and comfort for the fans attending, especially women, children and the elderly.
Sharing a fan’s chilling tweet on the sexual harassment she had to undergo at the concert, singer Shweta Mohan who performed at the concert wrote, “For an icon who has stood for peace, love and humanity all his life, it is extremely unfortunate that this has happened at [Rahman’s] concert where the music has eased the pain of all attending.”
“Does ARR Sir deserve such perpetrators as fans attending his concert?” the singer questioned, adding that he deserved “better, way better.” She added that Rahman dedicates a song especially to women in every concert, “as a reminder to every man of the respect he needs to carry for every woman.”
Calling the assault survivor “singapenne”, in reference to a song by Rahman that translates to ‘woman like a lion’, Shweta said that “we live in a heinous society.” “My heart goes out to you. Sending you energy to help overcome this and rise again,” she added.
Singer Rakshita Suresh, who was also a performer at the concert, shared on social media that the past two days haven’t been easy for her. “As an ardent fan of AR Rahman sir and his music, and as an artist of the very concert, it’s heartbreaking to see what has been happening to him, to us, and to thousands of his fans. The evening was supposed to be a celebration of three decades of his music, at his home ground. He and his fans do not deserve this,” she said.
Rakshita wrote that after the concert, none of the performers could enjoy the feeling because they were hearing all the reports of missing people and commotion. She added that she felt terrible for those who weren’t able to experience the magic of Rahman’s music live for all the wrong reasons. “Mistakes do happen, and he has mentioned he will take the responsibility, when it’s not even directly his fault! My own mother and my family who came to attend the concert went through the same thing.”
Admitting that many things went wrong at the concert, the singer said, “I’m sure if it was in Rahman’s hands, he would have paused the show to come check all this - but unfortunately that’s not his job. It’s not the job of the artist to manage the crowd in a concert. His job is to get on stage and give quality entertainment to the people who’ve paid their hard earned money to come watch the show, and he did that.” Addressing Rahman, Rakshitha said that they were all together with him. “The hatred doesn’t stand a chance, when there’s a whole fort of love to envelope you,” she added.
A section of netizens, however, criticised some of the celebrities for portraying Rahman as the primary victim of the debacle, rather than extending compassion and support towards the fans who were victims of abuse and harassment.