I genuinely believe that there are certain famous personalities whose artistic prowess is so immense that they shouldn’t be disrespected at any cost. A.R. Rahman is one of them. The legend has not just created art that will be remembered for generations but has placed our country on the global map when it comes to music.
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But something really disrespectful happened to him recently. A.R. Rahman was performing at a musical concert in Pune and a police officer went up on stage and stopped the performance midway. Rahman was singing his famous track ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’.
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In a video that has gone viral, the police officer can be seen going up to the various supporting artists and the band on stage and shutting them down. According to a report by Hindustan Times, he did so because the concert exceeded the 10 PM deadline. While the police officer interrupted the show, A.R. Rahman amicably ended the concert by thanking the audience and the organisers.
Here’s a video of the incident:
The Pune police intervened in A.R Rehman’s live show in Pune, stopping the concert as it was past 10 p.m@arrahman@PuneCityPolice #concert #stopped pic.twitter.com/bB7Y3SH4ip
— Pune Mirror (@ThePuneMirror) May 1, 2023
This incident enraged several people who took to Twitter to slam Pune police for behaving so harshly. They raised questions as to why the police do not take similar action when it comes to a political bigshot’s event or a religious gathering that carries on way past 10 PM and are often loud and disturbance-creating.
Here’s a look at some of the reactions:
Humble request to Top Bosses of #PunePolice to take similar actions for all the events or celebrations be it Birthdays Weddings Public rallies to everything else. Loudspeakers and loud Music/Instruments played after 10PM should not be allowed whatsoever.
— Vijay (@vkdesi) May 1, 2023
Hope it is followed across the spectrum and not just cherry picking.
— Aloof (@superfunkie) May 1, 2023
While majority of the pubs in P town are open till 2AM with loud music this is just show-off …
— Shashank Bhalekar (@TheShaStories) May 1, 2023
It would always be partial. The same rule can’t be applied across all events. And that is a sad thing.
— jazzy the sailor (@chaotic_jazzy) May 1, 2023
Simple question: why wouldn’t the police go to organisers and get it stopped instead of making a public display and walking up to stage and showing watch to Rahman?
— LivingOnAPrayer (@joyghosh2) May 1, 2023
I hope one day they show such dedication towards the rules in some big shot politicians or builders family functions/haldi ceremony etc.
— Swapnil Deshpande (@swapsd) May 1, 2023
Congratulations. Hope the same rules are enforced for festivals and political rallies, especially if conducted by the party in power and CM and PM. 🙏
— Bearded Ghost (@CAPTPVR) May 2, 2023
Extremely disappointing of #PunePolice to shut down #ARRahman ‘s concert in #Pune at 10.14PM. While the rule of 10pm cutoff is understood, this is nt how a visiting artist of his stature should hav been treated. He was almost on his finale song when this happened👇🏻cc @CPPuneCity pic.twitter.com/HYEor4wiYX
— Irfan (@IrfanmSayed) April 30, 2023
A.R. Rahman took to social media to address the issue and he was rather light-hearted about it, calling it a ‘Rockstar’ moment.
“Did we all just have the ‘Rockstar’ moment on stage yesterday? I think we did!” he wrote on Instagram, sharing a snippet of the incident.
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It’s truly sad to see a two-time Oscar and six-time National Award-winning artist having to experience such behavior from the police.