AR Rahman issues clarification over his Chennai concert controversy: I had no idea what was happening outside

AR Rahman’s concerts are usually memorable but his last night’s concert will be remembered as an unpleasant experience for many fans. About 45000 people descended at Chennai’s Adityaram Palace City where one was met with long queues, traffic jams and mismanagement of ticket holders. Many fans with valid tickets were denied entry , many tore their tickets and some even got into arguments with police and event organizers.
Talking to The Hindu, AR Rahman broke his silence and said it was a tsunami of people and love that they were unable to handle. He added that as a composer, his job was to give a terrific show, and he thought everything else would be taken care of. He was just thinking that it shouldn’t rain, and was happily performing inside, without any idea of what was happening outside. He stated that his intentions were good and felt that the response was beyond their expectations.
He also went on to explain that the organizers had put up 46000 seats in the venue and in some sections everybody sat on one side and didn’t move to the other side. Seeing this, policemen assumed that the venue was full and closed it and by this time , the show had already started. The celebrated musician also highlighted that he and his team were terribly disturbed after the incidents. AR Rahman said that safety was the primary issue, especially because there were women and kids and that he doesn't want to point fingers at anyone, but has come to realize that the city is expanding, and the passion to consume music and art is also expanding.
Taking to Twitter he also wrote , “Dearest Chennai Makkale, those of you who purchased tickets and weren't able to enter owing to unfortunate circumstances, please do share a copy of your ticket purchase to arr4chennai@btos.in along with your grievances. Our team will respond asap@BToSproductions@actcevents”
Despite hosting several successful concerts across the world and Chennai, several of the Oscar winner’s fans had a bitter experience on Sunday evening. He added that this concert has been a lesson for him as it pushes him to go beyond being a musician and get involved in infrastructure as well. He also promised that he will face this and fix it, because every soul is important to him.