What happened at AR Rahman concert: 50,000 people came, permission was for 25,000

As a police probe has begun on musician AR Rahman’s September 10 concert in Chennai following allegations of chaos, stampede-like situation, molestation, it has now come to the fore that several thousands of tickets were oversold.

While the venue could host around 20,000 to 25,000 people and that was the footfall expected, around 50,000 people turned up for the concert on Sunday. All of them had valid tickets but were left flustered as they found there was no space to enter. There was no VIP section though separate tickets at exorbitant prices were sold. Calling it a scam and blaming Rahman for the scam, several social media users who were there at the concert posted videos.

What happened at AR rahman concert on September 10: 10 points

1. Rahman’s Marakumma Nenjam concert was held in Chennai on September 10 at Adtyaram Palace City.

2. There was traffic congestion near the venue and that was only the beginning of the harassment that many of the audience members claimed to have faced on Sunday.

3. VIP tickets were sold at ₹50,000 but the audience members found out that there was no VIP zone at the venue, according to a complaint.

4. Many women took to social media alleging that they were groped in the crowd. Police said no complaint has been filed regarding this.

5. “It was a tsunami of people and love that we were unable to handle,” Rahman told The Hindu after the event turned into utter chaos. He said as a composer, he thought his only job was to give a terrific show and he thought the rest would be taken care of.

6. AR Rahman took to Twitter and promised to refund the tickets of those who could not reach the venue. In an Instagram post, Rahman wrote: “some people call me G.O.A.T …………let me be the sacrificial goat this time for all of us to wake up ..let Chennai’s live art flourish with a world class infrastructure, increase in tourism, efficient crowd management, traffic management, refining audiences to follow rules ..creating a safe and surreal experience for children and women ..Triggering a cultural renaissance at Chennai celebrating our deserving, illuminated local and international talent.”

7. “Right now, we are just terribly disturbed. Safety was the primary issue, especially because there were women and kids. I don’t want to point fingers at anyone, but we have to realise that the city is expanding, and the passion to consume music and art is also expanding,” AR Rahman said in the interview.

8. AR Rahman said there were 46,000 chairs in the venue. But in some sections, everybody sat on one side and didn’t move to the other side. The policemen on duty assumed that the venue was full and closed it.

9. Social media users, however, blamed AR Rahman for choosing an ‘incompetent’ event manager who did not have the manpower to handle the situation.

10. Event organiser ACTC apologised on social media and took responsibility for overcrowding.