Irate fans numbering at least 1,000 shouted slogans of ‘refund’ and ‘Akon sucks’ when the singer walked off the stage without giving any performance on Friday night.
What was supposed to be a memorable Friday evening for hundreds of fans of American rhythm and blues (R&B) star Akon soon turned ugly when the singer’s much-publicised performance at the Westin hotel was called off.
Irate fans numbering at least 1,000 shouted slogans of ‘refund’ and ‘Akon sucks’ when the singer walked off the stage without giving any performance on Friday night.
Music lovers who had spent as much as Rs10,000 per ticket gathered in the hall and demanded a refund. They left the venue only after getting assurance.
An angry fan, who said she had come from Florida to hear Akon, verbally abused the singer as he walked to his hotel room. City builder Rohit Gera, who had also gone to see the performance, told DNA, “The organisers did not have the permission for the concert and still sold tickets. This is unacceptable. We plan to file a police complaint.”
Shaggy Ahmed, a student from Somalia, who had come with nine other friends to watch the international star said, “We spent Rs5,000 each for the tickets and Rs10,000 for two VIP tickets. The show began at 7.30pm and the organisers kept assuring us that Akon would come and sing but he did not come till well past 10pm. And when he did, he just cut his birthday cake and walked off. We have been duped.”
Sanket Punmiya and Jay Surana, who had spent Rs2,500 for each ticket, said, “The organisers have robbed us. Akon just came on the stage and announced that the police had not given him permission to perform. When we demanded that he should sing, he was rude and said if they wanted to hear him, they should attend his Delhi concert.”
Senior inspector Devidas Patil of Mundhwa police station told DNA on Saturday, “The state government had not given the permission for Akon’s performance in Pune hence we reached Westin at 10pm. As many as 1,000 people had turned up for the show and they had purchased tickets at different prices.”
According to Patil, the organisers had told the police that they would be refunding the money over the next two days at the Mundhwa police station.
Aryan Navale of Statosphere Entertainment, the organisers of the event, refused to comment on the ruckus. He said, “We will be refunding the money within 12 hours. There were 4-5 outlets selling tickets. People should visist respective outlets where they bought tickets to get the refund.”
Sujeet Jain, the head of Netsurf, which did the celebrity management of the event, said, “We were only responsible for getting Akon to Pune. We were told that it was his birthday bash and he was supposed to sing for 30 minutes.”
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