Attendees of Salman's Vancouver show cry foul, claim USD 5,000 tickets double-sold; organisers hint local promoter may have "over-committed"
Salman Khan
Considering Salman Khan's Da-Bangg: The Tour Reloaded was touted as one of the grandest Bollywood shows across the US and Canada, it wasn't surprising that tickets for the Vancouver leg sold like hot cakes. But many of the superstar's fans returned home disgruntled; from the tickets being double-sold to many audience members being shown the door — it has been learnt that the July 1 gig was mismanaged.
While the tour — that also features Katrina Kaif and Sonakshi Sinha, among others — has been managed by Sohail Khan Official Entertainment and JA Events, the Vancouver leg was organised by Gold Spade Entertainment. Bhavesh Patel of Sahil Promotions is the international promoter in the US and Canada. Patron Perminder Chohan said he had bought two seats in the VVIP section, only to find another couple occupying his place. "When we asked the couple to vacate our seats, the security guards pushed me out of the auditorium. My friend Rahul Gill, who had another seat in the section, questioned the security's actions. Next thing you know, they kicked him out too. The organisers were present there, but they didn't defend us."
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(From left): Guru Randhawa, Daisy Shah, Sonakshi Sinha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Maniesh Paul at the San Jose edition of Da-Bangg Tour
Chohan's friend Rahul Gill alleges that the VVIP passes were double sold. "Many people couldn't find their seats as the tickets were sold twice over. A couple had occupied my seats too, but they were polite enough to move when I showed them my tickets. You don't expect such mismanagement when you have bought tickets worth $5,000 each." He adds that several attendess, who faced a similar situation, put up their grievances on the organiser's site. "A lot of people started complaining on Gold Spade's site. Instead of addressing the concerns, they pulled the site down yesterday."
Another audience member, Avtar S Virdi, claimed that apart from shelling out $10,000 for two VVIP passes, he spent another $2,000 for the meet-and-greet event. However, he was told at the last minute that the post-gig event was cancelled. Virdi added that he is still awaiting the refund.
When mid-day reached out to Jordy Patel of JA Events, he claimed that Khan and other stars had honoured the meet-and-greet commitment. "Although they were supposed to meet 50 fans, the stars obliged many others with pictures. But, sometimes the local promoter overcommits to get more footfalls. It may have happened this time too. However, we honoured our commitment." Bhavesh Patel from Sahil Promotions remained unavailable for comment, but his father Babulal Patel said, "The meet-and-greet happened, and I have photos to prove that. Gold Spade Entertainment mismanaged the event. But, if people were asked to leave, there must be another reason." Despite repeated attempts, Gold Spade Entertainment remained unavailable for comment.
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