Arson and vandalism marred the first day of auditions for Sony Entertainment's musical talent hunt "Fame Gurukul" here Friday when aspirants went on the rampage protesting mismanagement.

Sony had to cancel the audition following the chaos at the venue in Science City in east Kolkata. The mob set banners and posters on fire and ransacked auditorium property. Police had to baton-charge the crowds and several people were injured.

The aspirants said they had come from far off places, including Bihar and Jharkhand, and had to put up with the mismanagement of the organisers. Some of the aspirants had been at the venue since Thursday night.

Heavy police deployment has been made at the venue.

Sony has launched "Fame Gurukul", a reality show which will tell the story of 14 talented singers vying for a place in a coveted music academy where a journey to become the nation's biggest singing sensations will begin.

The two winners will be awarded a recording contract with a leading music company and another contract worth Rs.10 million with Sony.

While ace lyricist Javed Akhtar, singer K.K. and musician Shankar Mahadevan are on the jury, folk pop queen Ila Arun is the headmistress of the music academy Gurukul.

The Gurukul faculty includwes vocal coach Padma Wadkar, counsellor Anjali Chhabria and choreographer Geeta Kapur.