Concert row: AR Rahman event organisers booked for overselling tickets
Organisers of the 'Marakkuma Nenjam' concert of the Oscar-winning composer had overbooked tickets, leaving thousands of Rahman fans high and dry
Charging the organiser of AR Rahman's September 10 concert in Chennai for overselling tickets, committing a breach of trust and causing inconvenience to the people, Tamil Nadu Police on Friday (September 22) registered cases against an official of ACTC Events and two others.
Oscar-winning music composer Rahman's concert titled 'Marakkuma Nenjam' (Does the Heart Ever Forget) was held at a private venue on East Coast Road (ECR) in the city.
“Due to chaos at the venue, many complained about the concert tickets being oversold. Following this, the Tambaram City Police took up the investigation and registered cases under IPC Section 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated) against Hemanth Raja, CEO of ACTC Events, and two others,” a senior police official said.
An investigation by the city police revealed that the organisers had sold tickets beyond the seating capacity of the arena. A case of cheating was also registered against them, he said. Tambaram City Police Commissioner A Amalraj had said nearly 15,000 people beyond the expected number had gathered at the venue. The crowd was “more than expected,” 25,000 chairs were arranged “but 35,000 to 40,000 people turned up,” he said.
Many people took to social media to talk about their plight as they could not reach the venue on time due to severe traffic congestion on ECR, while others were critical of the way things were handled that evening and highlighted how despite spending huge sums of money for the tickets, they were denied access to the venue.
Rahman later said he had nothing to do with the “inconveniences” caused to people during his concert, and Hemanth shared a video on Instagram saying the composer should not be targeted on social media as “ACTC takes responsibility” for the problems faced by people on September 10.
Apologising for the inconvenience caused to people, he assured that the cost of the ticket would be refunded to those who had missed out on the concert.
(With inputs from agencies)
