AR Rahman responds to complaints of mismanagement during Marakkuma Nenjam concert

Composer AR Rahman's concert titled Marakkuma Nenjam took place in Chennai on Sunday evening. While fans crowded the venue to listen and watch the composer performing, it certainly did not make a delightful memory among the many attendees. The event took place in Adityaram Palace City.

Many who attended the concert took to social media to share their grouse about the poor management, their miserable experience, along with cases of assault as well. Some also blamed for long queues, mismanagement of the crowd and absence of responsibility from the organiser side.

Charulatha Rangarajan, who took to explain her experience on social media, wrote on X, "For a person who goes only to concerts for mental peace & good vibes, it was anxiety inducing max. I haven't been this stressed for a long time & it was filled with fights, stampede & toxicity! Marakavey marakadhu pa nenjam !" She also complained instances of groping and expressed her dissatisfaction over paying for the concert in thousands in return for a harrowing experience.

Another visitor blamed the mismanagement and wrote, "Worst organising of #arrconcert ever. Been to so many concerts. This is the worst. Total stampede situation and there is hardly anyone to organise or direct. Returning home without even entering.”

ACTC Events, which was in charge of organising the concert, also earned the wrath of the visitors with many complaining the lack of professionalism, despite the tickets costing several thousands. “Worst event organised by @actcevents. Paid 5k for ticket and can’t watch the show peacefully. All those who came after 7 and Gold pass guys stood in front row and blocked the view. This is how we watched the show,” another posted on X.

Visitors have also been posting several instances of mismanagement on social media.

Taking to X, Rahman apologised for the unfortunate turn of events and announced that his team will respond to those who purchased the tickets but weren't able to enter. In conversation with The Hindu, Rahman reacted to the situation and said, "It was a tsunami of people and love that we were unable to handle. As a composer, my job was to give a terrific show, and I thought everything else would be taken care of. I was just thinking that it shouldn’t rain, and was happily performing inside, without any idea of what was happening outside. Our intentions were good, but I think the response was beyond our expectations. We are collecting the data now, and we will surprise fans with something soon.”

Stating that they are "terribly disturbed", the composer said they will "fix it". He also mentioned how Marakkuma Nenjam is India's highest sold show till date and added, "This was like a cyclone we did not plan for. We did 20 concerts in the US last year, and everything was smooth and trouble free — because we trusted the system there. The organisers (ACTC events) had put together about 46,000 chairs in the venue. In some sections, everybody sat on one side and didn’t move to the other side. Seeing this, the policemen on duty assumed that the venue was full and closed it. By this time, the show had already started inside.”

However, this has not stopped people who attended the event to pour in their bad experience about the concert. Several on social media have been posting videos and penning their harrowing experiences, blaming Rahman and organizers of the concert.