 "Dear Arijit Singh: Why stop at Rs 16 lakh? Daylight robberies are worth much more!")
In what can be called a rather bizarre turn of events, Bollywood singer Arijit Singh known for hits like Tum Hi Ho and more recently Kesariya, is facing the ire of netizens for pricing tickets for his concert in Pune at Rs 16 lakh. A user took to Twitter and shared the screenshot of ticket prices which begin from Rs 999 for Bronze (standing) section and go up to Rs 12 lakh, Rs 14 lakh and Rs 16 lakh for private lounge sections. Twitterati rightfully lambasted the singer when the tweet went viral. One user wrote, “Will he give a Sabyasachi lehenga as merch?”. Another said they would rather ‘cry alone’ than go to the concert. Soon, a Twitter user shared the detailed breakup of the private lounge booking fees. Rs 16 lakh is the fee for 40 seats which includes unlimited liquor, non-vegetarian and vegetarian snacks. That still brings the price of each seat in the platinum lounge to Rs 40,000. In a country where most cannot afford Spotify Premium and wait for YouTube ads to buffer, Arijit charging his fans an obscene and frankly ridiculous amount of money for a concert ticket is in very poor taste.
i love arijit singh but i won’t be spending so much😭 pic.twitter.com/kYdfNq2po8
— shau🪿 (@midnightmmrys) November 24, 2022
i love arijit singh but i won’t be spending so much😭 pic.twitter.com/kYdfNq2po8
— shau🪿 (@midnightmmrys) November 24, 2022
To put things in perspective, Justin Bieber, who probably has the worst reputation when it comes to overcharging for concert tickets, priced his Delhi concert Rs 4,000 onwards. The price of tickets for the Fan Zone VIP package which included exclusive backstage access and tour merchandise was Rs 37,500. The concert was eventually cancelled due to Bieber’s health scare. It is important to mention that the price for Bieber’s tickets probably took into consideration the flight and accommodation expenses of his entourage and backstage crew in dollars. The rupee has fallen significantly in comparison to the dollar this year. Why is Arijit then charging his fans a hefty sum to attend his concert knowing fully well most Indians cannot shell out Rs 40,000 for a 3-hour concert? Would Arijit dare price his tickets for international shows at this amount even if it was adjusted for pay parity? Consider this tweet from Sia, known for hit numbers like Chandelier and Cheap Thrills:
i'm asking so i can try to price my tickets as low as i can.
— sia (@Sia) April 29, 2011
how much do you guys earn a month?
— sia (@Sia) April 28, 2011
Sia, in a wholesome move, asked her fans how much they can afford to pay for her tickets. The tweet is from 2011 when Sia wasn’t a mainstream artist. Artists should be compensated for their talent and hard work which goes into preparing for a tour. But isn’t it unfair on their part to exploit their fans and commit daylight robbery in the name of selling tickets? Rs 16 lakh is the budget of some music festivals in India. Several Redditors, too, shared their displeasure on the same. ‘Rs 16 lakh mein Arijit lap dance dega kya?’ (Will Arijit give me a lap dance for Rs 16 lakh?) some users quipped. At this point, we cannot even call it a robbery. It is a full-blown heist. For her 2022 tour in the US, Beyonce charged $157 (Rs 12,717) dollars per ticket at a San Francisco venue. This is not to say that international musicians are superior to Indian artists. It is to highlight that despite the abysmal position of rupee compared to dollar, ticket prices of international artists are lower, still. International Artists and White Privilege When it comes to concerts, us Indians are always given the short end of the stick. The international artists are quick to throw tantrums and have outlandish and unreasonable demands from organizers (think J.Lo’s 2013 IPL performance which never happened because of the same reasons). Even if the international artists set foot on the Indian soil, they are usually nonchalant and don’t respect the concert goers. Justin Bieber charged a bomb for his 2017 India concert and showed up in a t-shirt and shorts and lip-synced most of the songs. He didn’t even try to look excited or pretend to care about the audience who burnt several holes in their pockets to see him do lethargic hand and leg movements. That night, Bieber treated the audience as if he was obliging them with their presence - almost as if breathing the same air as him is enough reward for the peasants who paid to watch him. Do these artists have insane demands when they perform in the US? It doesn’t look like it or else there will be plenty of people talking about it. This is obviously a classic case of white privilege. But when homegrown Indian artists like Arijit, who are aware of the discrimination concert goers face particularly with white international artists, pull off a robbery - one can’t help but feel helpless. Why do this to your own people Arijit? A net worth of Rs 5 crore - is it not enough to sustain you for life? Shouldn’t more people have access to your art? If yes, how will they access it if they have to pay an amount for which they can buy a plot of a few hundred meters? Rs 16 lakh is equivalent to the annual take home salary of some employees. It is equal to years worth of house rent for some. It is certainly not an amount that any Indian, even upper middle class Indians, would spend on a concert ticket of all things, that too, when the world is at the cusp of a recession, Dear Arijit, please be better and do not disappoint your fans. If you still wish to overprice your concert tickets, please don’t stop at Rs 16 lakh. Charge a crore at least. After all, robberies are worth much more. Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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