During singer Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa’s performance at Hampi Utsav 2023 in Karnataka, a water bottle was hurled onstage. The reason? Audience members wanted to hear Kannada tunes. Kher, in an exclusive interview with us, addressed this earlier and said, “We had a surprise set planned, as I wanted to pay a musical tribute to (late actor) Puneeth Rajkumar sir. I had prepared a medley of the hit songs, and the plan was to perform it toward the middle of the show. But those guys lost patience.”

While the two people were arrested immediately, the music fraternity believes no performer should have to face something like this. Singer Raghu Dixit, who also performed at the fest, tells us, “The organizers need to [keep it] in check to avoid these incidents. I highly condemn the act of throwing anything on an artist, but I don’t believe anyone is at fault here because the singer had songs planned and the audience couldn’t wait any longer.”

Another artiste at Hampi Utsav, singer Pallavi MD, says, “It is a huge festival that invites multiple artistes, but it mainly hosts singers who have performed in Kannada. However, singers who come from other states should also perform in the local language so that the audiences can connect. Maybe a song or two to kickstart the setlist would have calmed the audience.”

Meanwhile, singer Sonu Nigam says, “A very small number of disruptive people are found everywhere and in every country. Thankfully, they are inconsequential.”

I believe Kailash Kher performed much after midnight that day, and the audience got very restless. But I highly condemn the act of throwing a water bottle on an artiste.

It’s a one-off incident. Let’s not give power to it. There are all kinds of people in the audience, mostly appreciative.

It is a big no-no to throw anything on stage or hurt artistes when they’re performing. However, singers who come from other states should also perform in the local language so that the audiences can connect.