London: Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, who hails from Tamil Nadu, got slammed on social media for performing Tamil songs at the Wembley Stadium. While some were left disappointed, others stood by his songs selection as they believe music has no language barrier.
Rahman's "Netru, Indru, Naalai" (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) gig at the London event on July 8 didn't hit the right chord with all his fans, especially his Bollywood-song admirers.
According to reports, some left the concert after Rahman started singing Tamil songs.
"A.R. Rahman concert: Never seen so much disappointment and mass walkouts. Approximately one per cent of songs in Hindi," one fan posted on Twitter.
Another tweeted: "A.R. Rahman... very disappointed with the concert tonight (July 8) at Wembley. Waited for a very long time to be disappointed? Not expected from a legend."
"Lovely to see A.R. Rahman, but all the songs are in Tamil! What about your Hindi/Bollywood fans?"
After the reported walkout, a statement was later issued on a Facebook page - A R Rahman Live - UK on July 10, saying: "Hi London. Thanks for the tremendous support and response. However, we have been getting a few complaints on language bias which is rather unfortunate as this was an Indian show and music doesn't have any barriers."
The Facebook statement, which could not be verified immediately, also sought to put the controversy in perspective. "We have posted the track list performed at The SSE Arena, Wembley to prove that there were 16 full tracks in Hindi, 12 full Tamil tracks and one medley with a mix of Tamil and Hindi."
There were some who supported him.
One wrote: "Everyone in the world knew that music doesn't have a language but Hindi wala guys say music in Hindi language. AR Rahman."
Another tweeted: "I think some of these Bollywood kiss a**es forget A.R. Rahman is Tamil and Bollywood did not make him famous, many great Bollywood movies."
Another wrote: "This is how we feel when Hindi is imposed or Hindi songs are in list in Yuva Dasara Mysuru or Hindi is heard in flight announcement."
Rahman is currently in New York for the 18th edition of the IIFA Weekend and Awards and is yet to directly address the incident.
