Musicians attacked for not playing Kannada songs

Members of a band were attacked by drunk men for not playing Kannada songs at the Phoenix Marketcity shopping mall in eastern Bengaluru last week, according to a police complaint.

‘Musication’ is a Bengaluru-based band that mostly plays Hindi songs from rock, folk and Sufi genres. It performed at the mall located in Mahadevapura from 6 pm to 9 pm on August 2. At the end of the gig, when the band members were packing up, two drunk men walked up to them and demanded that they play Kannada songs. The musicians replied that it would not be possible as they had plugged out their instruments.

But the men would not listen. The band members asked them to take permission from the mall management. Angered by the response, the men assaulted keyboard player Anubhav and others with a mic stand.

The drunk men were joined by some others and they all attacked another band member when he tried to film the incident on his mobile phone. But before things could go out of hand, the mall security intervened, forcing the drunk group to flee the spot.

The band later filed a complaint at the Mahadevapura police who have taken up a case of assault and are reviewing the CCTV footage to identify the culprits.

Anubhav, the keyboard player, is under treatment and out of danger.

Another member of the band, speaking anonymously, said they had played a Kannada song during the gig. “We just go by the response of the crowd while playing the songs of a particular language or genre,” he added.