On Saturday, music lovers in Bangalore may have had a ball at a gig by music composers Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, but little they do know that the musicians went ahead with their performance despite not being paid the dues they had agreed upon.
Says a source, `The show was pitched as a musical Vishal-Shekhar night and it was a sold-out show. However, the organisers wanted to make more money by not paying the artistes their dues. Both Vishal and Shekhar got to know about this before the show but because they had been paid a token amount, they went ahead and performed. They could have upped and left but they felt that it wasn't right for their fans to suffer because of the organisers' misdemeanour.`
Confirming the news, Vishal recounts that in April this year, Claret Sun Events paid them an advance for a public show in Bangalore. `We were to receive the rest upon arrival in Bangalore, but on the day in question, we found that our rooms were substandard and there was no trace of the remaining amount.
The promoters, PhaniShri and Sunil Kashyap, kept asking us to wait. After a few hours, it was clear that they were still lying, but since this wasn't the fans' fault, we performed anyway.
Of course, we apologised to the audience and exposed the lies of the promoters. We then found our flights cancelled in the morning. Luckily, we had made alternate arrangements and we will now initiate legal action against Claret Sun, Phanishri and Kashyap.`
