I THINK THE BOTTLE WAS FLUNG ON THE STAGE BY MISTAKE: SUNIDHI

Debarati S Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; May 6, 2024)

During Sunidhi Chauhan’s recent concert (May 2) at SGRR University, Dehradun, an audience member flung a bottle at her while she was performing on the stage. While she wasn’t physically hurt, she was startled by the incident, and addressing the audience, she said, “Yeh kya ho raha hai? Bottles phenkne se kya hoga? Yeh batao. Haina? Usse hoga kya? Show ruk jayega. Do you want that?” To this, the audience could be heard saying in unison, “No.” 

Netizens expressed anger at the incident and urged people to refrain from such behaviour. They also raised how the singer handled the incident on stage and continued with the show.

‘Mere saath aisa pehle kabhi nahi hua tha’
In an exclusive conversation with us, Sunidhi narrated what exactly happened at the show. “I was on the second last song when this bottle came flying towards me. My mic was away from my mouth, and I heard a noise, kyunki woh mic head ko lagi aur neeche giri. Mere saath aisa pehle kabhi nahi hua tha, so I was taken aback. I was not hurt, and I continued singing. After that I did see another bottle flying far away in the audience. Peeche, there were also some papers flying around, and to that, I said, ‘Agar aap aisa karoge toh ho sakta hai ki show rokna pade. Toh kya aap log yeh chahte ho?’ I realised that it was not done intentionally. Bacche the, and in the heat of the moment, dance karte karte, aim galti se stage ki tarf aa gaya hoga. So, I didn’t feel ki yeh galat hai. I was cool about it.”

‘There is no pattern to such incidents’
Talking about such incidents that have happened with artistes earlier, she says, “There is no pattern to such incidents. Everybody reacts to this the way they feel at that moment. Agar kisi ko kharab lagta hai, ya insulted feel hota hai, woh bhi unka right hai. In my case, I was assured that this was only by mistake. The organizers and my team would definitely be concerned about this, and they would’ve stopped the show. So, what I said on stage came out of that space.”
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Soumya Vajpayee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 6, 2024)

A video from Sunidhi Chauhan’s show at Shri Guru Ram Rai University’s annual fest Zenith 2024 in Dehradun, where a bottle was hurled towards the stage, has gone viral.

While reports suggest that the incident left the singer shocked and upset, Chauhan tells us, “I had no idea that the video has gone viral. It’s the first time something like this has happened with me and I don’t think it was done intentionally. I was performing my second last song and the crowd was having a blast. They were hurling bottles in the air and one came towards the stage. When I said, ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai? Show ruk jayega,’ they requested me to continue. I performed for another five-eight minutes.”

Chauhan adds that she’s glad she wasn’t hurt. “It hit my microphone with a lot of force. Of course, if the mic was closer to my mouth, I could have got hurt and would have perhaps responded differently. But aisa kuch hua nahin. Having said that, I am aware of some instances, when people deliberately misbehaved with the performers and threw things at them, aur woh galat hai. I strictly condemn that,” she ends.