Concert-goers furious at AR Rahman

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After AR Rahman Performed Tamil Songs At London Concert, Some Want Refund

A R Rahman was criticized for playing a number of Tamil songs as part of his set

New Delhi:


Highlights


1The gig was titled 'Netru, Indru, Naalai'
2Singer Chinmayi Sripaada lashed out at disgruntled concert-goers
3"Was so disappointed and left half way through," read one of the tweets


A concert that musician A R Rahman played in London last week had an unexpected epilogue on social media, with several audience members criticizing Rahman for playing a number of Tamil songs as part of his set. That Rahman is Tamil himself and has composed much of his music in Tamil appears to have been disregarded by the disgruntled concert-goers, as has the fact that the gig was titled 'Netru, Indru, Naalai.' Twitter is filled with complaints asking for refunds, some claim to have left the concert halfway - even though a tweet of the setlist shows that several songs performed were Hindi, from Tu Hi Re and Dil Se to Patakha Guddi and Jai Ho.
Nevertheless, the July 8 concert at Wembley appears to have attended by folks who claim Rahman should remember he "made his name in Bollywood" (this is untrue) and have played more Hindi, even Punjabi one tweet demanded, songs. A typical tweet read: "That was my first ever Tamil concert guys. Albeit completely unintentional" and added the hashtags #Fail and #Refund.
For those accusing A R Rahman of being 'disrespectful' to his Hindi audience, a Google search will reveal the information that the singer-composer's first break was in Mani Ratnam's 1992 Tamil film Roja, which was dubbed in Hindi. Rahman worked in Tamil and Telugu cinema right upto 1995's Rangeela, which was his first purely Hindi soundtrack.


The controversy has helped re-ignite the debate over why Hindi is prioritised over other regional languages. The flood of critical tweets has been countered by others pointing out that Rahman did not start out in Bollywood and that 'disappointment' over his partly Tamil setlist smacked of ignorance and parochialism.

Among those who lashed out at disgruntled concert-goers was singer Chinmayi Sripaada, who has sung for Rahman in several films including Guru and Kaatru Veliyidai. Chinmayi's series of tweets also included an impassioned against the 'Hindi Prachar Sabha':

A R Rahman has not responded to his critics. He is currently in New York for the IIFA Awards.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ar-rahman-performed-tamil-songs-and-the-shock-was-too-much-for-these-fans-1724751

AR Rahman Wembley concert controversy: Some fans walk out of Netru Indru Nalai concert for 'not singing enough Hindi songs'
Music maestro A R Rahman had to face humiliation after some of his fans walked out of Netru Indru Nalai (Tamil for Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) concert held in Wembley, London recently.

The fans, who boycotted his show, lashed at Rahman on social media for not singing enough Hindi songs, rather including more Tamil tracks to his play list. In no time, there was war declared between Tamil and Hindi speaking fans over his choice of songs at the concert.

However, a Twitter user, who had gone to the concert, shed light on the matter stating that his playlist consisted of 16 Hindi songs and 12 in Tamil.

Singer Chinmayi Sripaada also lashed out at haters for categorizing music. Taking to her social media handle, she has posed some important questions to those who boasted about the boycott. Supporting music maestro AR Rahman, she wrote, "When Rahman sir wins 2 Oscars and creates history, he is "An Indian", but 7-8 Tamil gaane kya gaa liye aap naraaz hote ho. What yaar?"

She further went on to add the concert had 65 per cent of Hindi songs and the accusations are false. Lamenting the boycott brigade, she further stated, "Chase the American dream, your kids can speak Spanish; Live in the UK that once colonised India - but cry foul when a when you hear Tamil songs."

She ended her long post with an open letter that talks about the importance of language and how it should not be thrust upon anyone.
On the other hand, while we have always learnt that music has no language barrier, this is what the furious fans said post Rahman's concert in Wembley both in support and against the music maestro.

http://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/ar-rahman-wembley-concert-controversy-some-fans-walk-out-of-netru-indru-nalai-concert-for-not-singing-enough-hindi-songs/articleshow/59593862.cms

AR Rahman's Wembley concert was probably better without misguided 'fans' spoiling the show
O the horror, the horror! Some AR Rahman fans walked out of his Wembley show on 8 July because the maestro sang 12 Tamil songs and only 16 Hindi ones. And then they did what most insular, bigoted people do these days: rant on Twitter.

There is always a silver lining for every Twitter controversy though. At least the Hindi-speaking AR Rahman fans discovered that the language is 'Tamil' and not 'South Indian'.

Of course, there were ardent fans like @archana_ssawant, who said: "#ARRahman #Ssearena #mustberefunded #falseadvertising #wishweknew all songs in southindian #disapointment. Why #JavedAliji not singing more.

Or take @saurabh_sethi25 whose idea of a perfect concert by Rahman is more "Hindi Punjabi. "Need more Hindi Punjabi songs #ARRahman #Wembley #ssarena feels like come to a South Indian concert. Then you should've bought tickets for Mika, you ignoramus. Of all the languages that Rahman is associated with, Punjabi is probably the least.

AR Rahman has two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards and 16 Filmfare Awards South.

Just to do the maths for our insulted Hindi folks: Slumdog Millionaire was an English film dubbed in Hindi and other regional languages. Set in Hindi-speaking Mumbai, the soundtrack of the film had 13 songs, of which only two were in Hindi. The Academy Awards were for an English movie, one award being for a Hindi song and the other for the whole album. He dedicated his Oscars to God by saying "Ella Pugazhum Iraivanukke which loosely translates to "I am not worthy of this praise; All glory to God. That was Tamil, not Hindi.

The Golden Globe was for the movie's score (which is not limited by language). The two Grammys and BAFTAs were for an English film, of the four National Awards he won three for Tamil films, 15 Hindi Filmfare awards and 16 Filmfare Awards for South Indian films.

Even the most ardent Rahman fan would agree that 'Jai Ho' is among his most mediocre works, even though it gave him world-wide validation, not recognition. He was already a feted musician and composer, working on international projects and collaborating with world famous musicians before Slumdog happened. So what gives the Hindi-speaking fan that unbearable sense of entitlement over Rahman's setlist? This, of course, is the Hindi debate all over again, this time in the garb of music and culture. But what better an opportunity to address language chauvinism than with music?

Music transcends language, geographical and cultural barriers. In most cases at least. This same sanctimonious Hindi brigade would be bobbing around to Psy's 'Gangnam Style' or doing the 'Macarena' or even swaying to Dhanush's 'Kolaveri Di'...another "South Indian song.

So you buy tickets for a concert titled "Netru, Indru, Naalai (which translates to Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow in Tamil) NOT Kal, Aaj, Kal. Really, what did you expect? The man is called The Mozart of Madras. Madras, which is today Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, a state with predominantly Tamil-speaking people.

Oh let me make it clearer. He's a Madrasi, yaar. A real one. Not that Madrasi from Karnatak (without the A) or Keral (again without the A). From the land of Rajnikanth, who incidentally has a major following in Japan; a country full of closeted Tamil speakers perhaps. Then again, just to mess with his Hindi-obsessed fans who conveniently ignore the Madras part of his moniker, Rahman should've employed all his Trinity College and Western Classical music education and played some Mozart pieces. What a googly that would've been!

Some people felt out of place at the concert because there were just about as many Tamil songs as there were Hindi. Mind you, he did sing more Hindi songs but the Tamil was just too jarring for some fans like @RitaMistry who felt he sang 99 nine Tamil songs (which means she needs language, music AND math lessons).

Just look at his discography and you'll see that Hindi doesn't take up more than 40 percent of his body of work. Yet his Tamil-titled concert had more Hindi than Tamil songs. As a Tamilian, I should be taking offence to this because I apparently have nothing better to do than decipher lyrics instead of listening to the songs in totality. Unless these fans were subtitlers, they cannot be calling themselves music fans if their repulsion for what they don't understand supersedes their fascination for what they experience. How much more disdain can we Indians have for "the other? Just because it is not something we're "accustomed to, does that mean it deserves our disregard? Replace the literal "Holy cow with Hindi and this situation becomes all too familiar. Much like those misguided Indians who believe Hindi is the only national language in India.

These fans haven't affected AR Rahman as much as they've done a great disservice to music lovers. He is perhaps the best example in the world today of doing something that isn't bound by all those things that preoccupy a closed mind. Thank God those fans walked out of his show. The atmosphere would've been purer at the Wembley gig without them.

http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/ar-rahman-wembley-concert-was-probably-better-without-misguided-fans-spoiling-the-show-3812741.html

A R Rahman's Music Knows No Language Barrier, Say Fellow Musicians

A R Rahman's London concert, with both Tamil and Hindi music, has become embroiled in a controversy, and CNN-News 18 has exclusive reactions from luminaries of the music industry

A R Rahman's London concert, with Tamil and Hindi songs, got embroiled in controversy after concertgoers tweeted their displeasure at having to listen to Tamil tracks. CNN-TV18 spoke to several imminent personalities in the music industry to gauge their reactions to the row, the nature of multilingual performances and if the language war has cast its pall over the issue.

Javed Ali, singer: I attended the concert and I don't understand why this is happening. We all enjoyed the music and the experience. There were both large numbers of North and South Indians in the audience; and Rahman sir always makes sure that everyone in his audience is taken care of. That's probably why he played both Hindi and Tamil songs.
Usha Uthup, singer: This whole thing made me laugh. After having sung for 48 years and having perhaps started this trend of the 17 national languages, I find this to be quite the non-issue. It was advertised primarily as a Tamil concert so why would you go for it unless you were a big A R Rahman fan? It's like if you go for a concert in Italian or Spanish, despite not knowing the music, because you love the music. Once you've bought the ticket, it's your prerogative whether you wish to attend the show or walk out of it but this is a non-issue. Rahman will always be Rahman and if you love his music, whether it's in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil or Telugu, how does it matter.

Chinmayi Sripada, singer: Rahman sir's language spans across languages and he has sung in so many languages. Several years ago, there was a concert in Chennai, where the maximum number of his songs were performed in Hindi and none of us complained because we are all fans of Rahman sir and the language is of little regard. And the point is that the concert was marketed with a Tamil title so it all boils down to the language debate.

Talat Aziz, ghazal singer: I just got to know about this controversy and am not familiar with the details. But between you and me, as an artiste, I don't understand what the controversy is about. Rahman saab has played songs in national as well as international languages and it is his prerogative which songs he chooses to perform. If the concert was advertised as something and something else entirely was performed then of course fans have a right to be angry, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. As an artiste I hate controversy and this is meaningless. I don't condone any divide, music is a universal language.

Mahalakshmi Iyer, singer: As a performer I've travelled to the South often, and I'm South Indian myself. I've performed songs in Hindi for South Indian audiences and have never faced a situation like this so I don't understand why this happened. He has performed in so many languages, and as a matter of fact, the work he has done recently for South Indian films has been discussed far more by North Indian musicians because they really dissect his music. Similarly, below the videos of songs in Tamil or Malayalam I've often come across comments by North Indians who say they love the music even if they don't understand the words.

Tanvi Shah, Grammy awarded singer: In my opinion there is no need for this controversy. Language shouldn't be a barrier from letting you enjoy music so I don't know why this is happening. I don't know why there needs to be this divide between Hindi, Tamil, or any other language, because at the end of the day you enjoy for the music for its melody, its genre and so I don't see why this matters. I listen to music in other languages because I enjoy it and music makes me happy. That's the thing, music makes you happy.

http://www.news18.com/news/movies/a-r-rahmans-music-knows-no-language-barriers-say-fellow-musicians-1461917.html

sorry it is Tamil Concert...then its public fault, who went there to hear hindi songs...😆

Originally posted by: 09tanki

<font color="#006633">Its promoted as AR rahman concert, people won't be furious if he mixes the song. In the concert that I attended, first 45 minute were tamil song, now thats too long for people who wanted him to sing in hindi. Then AR rahman came and played some piano/music instrument and people thought it will be break, but he went back to some dark corner and tamil song started again. After 1 hour, they started 15 minute of hindi song, and then both song were played alternatively and then AR ended with jai ho song.</font>

<font color="#006633">In order to fill the auditorium, they don't tell people what to expect in the concert. Either they should promote as hindi /tamil concert and if its both, then they should mix it well.</font>

in above articles it is written - Rahman's concert was titled Netru Indru Naalai, Tamil for yesterday, today, tomorrow.' n org given track list n hindi n tamil tracks are in list n all d details are in articles...

may be those list in English,tamil,telugu,spanish,french etc.. n trapped d innocent souls n looted them 😆