Why stop at Rs 16 lakh? Daylight robberies are worth much more!

Bollywood singer Arijit Singh

In what will be referred to as a reasonably weird flip of occasions, Bollywood singer Arijit Singh recognized for hits like Tum Hello Ho and extra lately Kesariya, is going through the ire of netizens for pricing tickets for his live performance in Pune at Rs 16 lakh. A consumer took to Twitter and shared the screenshot of ticket costs which start from Rs 999 for Bronze (standing) part and go as much as Rs 12 lakh, Rs 14 lakh and Rs 16 lakh for personal lounge sections. Twitterati rightfully lambasted the singer when the tweet went viral. One consumer wrote, “Will he give a Sabyasachi lehenga as merch?”. One other stated they might reasonably ‘cry alone’ than go to the live performance. Quickly, a Twitter consumer shared the detailed breakup of the non-public lounge reserving charges. Rs 16 lakh is the payment for 40 seats which incorporates limitless liquor, non-vegetarian and vegetarian snacks. That also brings the worth of every seat within the platinum lounge to Rs 40,000. In a rustic the place most can not afford Spotify Premium and anticipate YouTube adverts to buffer, Arijit charging his followers an obscene and admittedly ridiculous amount of cash for a live performance ticket is in very poor style.

To place issues in perspective, Justin Bieber, who most likely has the worst repute on the subject of overcharging for live performance tickets, priced his Delhi live performance Rs 4,000 onwards. The worth of tickets for the Fan Zone VIP package deal which included unique backstage entry and tour merchandise was Rs 37,500. The live performance was finally cancelled because of Bieber’s well being scare. You will need to point out that the worth for Bieber’s tickets most likely took into consideration the flight and lodging bills of his entourage and backstage crew in {dollars}. The rupee has fallen considerably compared to the greenback this yr. Why is Arijit then charging his followers a hefty sum to attend his live performance figuring out absolutely properly most Indians can not shell out Rs 40,000 for a 3-hour live performance? Would Arijit dare worth his tickets for worldwide reveals at this quantity even when it was adjusted for pay parity? Contemplate this tweet from Sia, recognized for hit numbers like Chandelier and Low-cost Thrills:

Sia, in a healthful transfer, requested her followers how a lot they’ll afford to pay for her tickets. The tweet is from 2011 when Sia wasn’t a mainstream artist. Artists must be compensated for his or her expertise and arduous work which matches into getting ready for a tour. However isn’t it unfair on their half to take advantage of their followers and commit daylight theft within the identify of promoting tickets? Rs 16 lakh is the finances of some music festivals in India. A number of Redditors, too, shared their displeasure on the identical. ‘Rs 16 lakh mein Arijit lap dance dega kya?’ (Will Arijit give me a lap dance for Rs 16 lakh?) some customers quipped. At this level, we can not even name it a theft. It’s a full-blown heist.

For her 2022 tour within the US, Beyonce charged $157 (Rs 12,717) {dollars} per ticket at a San Francisco venue. This isn’t to say that worldwide musicians are superior to Indian artists. It’s to focus on that regardless of the abysmal place of rupee in comparison with greenback, ticket costs of worldwide artists are decrease, nonetheless.

Worldwide Artists and White Privilege

On the subject of live shows, us Indians are all the time given the brief finish of the stick. The worldwide artists are fast to throw tantrums and have outlandish and unreasonable calls for from organizers (suppose J.Lo’s 2013 IPL efficiency which by no means occurred due to the identical causes). Even when the worldwide artists set foot on the Indian soil, they’re often nonchalant and don’t respect the live performance goers. Justin Bieber charged a bomb for his 2017 India live performance and confirmed up in a t-shirt and shorts and lip-synced a lot of the songs. He didn’t even attempt to look excited or faux to care in regards to the viewers who burnt a number of holes of their pockets to see him do torpid hand and leg actions. That evening, Bieber handled the viewers as if he was obliging them with their presence – nearly as if respiration the identical air as him is sufficient reward for the peasants who paid to observe him. Do these artists have insane calls for once they carry out within the US? It doesn’t appear like it or else there might be loads of individuals speaking about it. That is clearly a traditional case of white privilege.

However when homegrown Indian artists like Arijit, who’re conscious of the discrimination live performance goers face significantly with white worldwide artists, pull off a theft – one can’t assist however really feel helpless. Why do that to your individual individuals Arijit? A web value of Rs 5 crore – is it not sufficient to maintain you for all times? Shouldn’t extra individuals have entry to your artwork? If sure, how will they entry it in the event that they need to pay an quantity for which they’ll purchase a plot of some hundred meters?

Rs 16 lakh is equal to the annual take dwelling wage of some staff. It is the same as years value of home hire for some. It’s actually not an quantity that any Indian, even higher center class Indians, would spend on a live performance ticket of all issues, that too, when the world is on the cusp of a recession,

Pricey Arijit, please be higher and don’t disappoint your followers. If you happen to nonetheless want to overprice your live performance tickets, please don’t cease at Rs 16 lakh. Cost a crore not less than. In any case, robberies are value far more.

Deepansh Duggal is an leisure, pop-culture and tendencies author based mostly in New Delhi. He focuses on op-eds based mostly on the socio-political and gender points on this planet of leisure and showbiz. He additionally writes explainers and infrequently evaluations reveals within the OTT house. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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