Police stopped Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman’s live concert in Maharashtra’s Pune because he was performing after the 10 p.m. deadline an official revealed on Monday.
The incident came to light after a purported video of a police officer walking onto the stage while Rahman was performing and asking him, the other artists, and the organizers to stop the music show went viral.
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
Police, citing Supreme Court guidelines, prohibited Rahman from singing, but he continued to perform after 10 p.m.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police of Pune Zone 2, Smartana Patil said in a statement, “AR Rahman was singing his last song even past 10 pm on Sunday. So one of our personnel, who was at the venue, went on the stage and informed the singer urging him to call off the performance and follow Supreme Court guidelines.”
According to the police official, Rahman then stopped singing. AR Rahman tweeted pictures from the Pune concert on Monday, promising his fans that he’d be back soon.
He exclaimed, “Pune! Thank you for last night’s love and euphoria! It was a wild ride of a concert! It’s no surprise that Pune has a thriving classical music scene! We’ll be back to sing with you all soon!”
The concert was held in Pune’s Raja Bahadur Mill area. The live concert ran from 8 p.m.to 10 p.m. Officers reportedly questioned the singer because he exceeded the time limit.