Coldplay Concert to be cancelled? BookMyShow under Scrutiny

Coldplay Concert Cancellation Sparks Controversy as BookMyShow Faces Backlash

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Omkar Devadkar

Last Updated: October 01, 2024

Summary: Anil Makhija, the Chief Operating Officer of Big Tree Entertainment, was questioned by the Mumbai Police's EOW on Monday for about seven hours.

The news of Coldplay's January 2025 concerts in India as part of the 'Music of the Spheres' World Tour thrilled Indian fans. The band had performances scheduled for January 18, 19, and 21. Members of the band included Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Phil Harvey, Will Champion, and Jonny Buckland. Recent events, however, have been called into question.

Anil Makhija, the Chief Operating Officer of Big Tree Entertainment, was questioned by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Monday for over seven hours about an alleged scam involving the sale of tickets for Coldplay performances that are slated for January 2025. BookMyShow, a well-known website for buying tickets to live events, is owned by Big Tree Entertainment.

On September 22, tickets went on sale via BookMyShow and were quickly sold out. Since then, there have been several internet discussions and theories on the event's future due to allegations of ticket black marketing against BookMyShow.

An EOW police officer remarked, "We questioned Anil Makhija, COO of Big Tree Entertainment, for seven hours. We had summoned the CEO, Ashish Hemrajani; however, he sent Makhija. We questioned him and are trying to understand the entire matter. He has given answers to our questions; we will analyze them and then decide the further course of action."

The rumors came through an Instagram post, which was shared on Reddit. However, there is no official announcement of the cancellation of the concert.

Amit Vyas, a lawyer, filed a complaint that sparked the investigation. In it, he claimed that BookMyShow, the concert's official ticketing platform, had collaborated with many black-market ticket brokers to obtain tickets. After that, these tickets were put up for sale on their websites at higher prices.

A BookMyShow representative had already responded to these claims by saying, "It came to our notice that unauthorized platforms listed (and are continuing to list) tickets for Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025 in India, both before and after the official sale. BookMyShow has no association with any unauthorized ticket selling/reselling platforms, including but not limited to Viagogo and Gigsberg or third-party individuals for reselling Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour 2025 in India."

Customers also received a warning from the company: "To our consumers, we would like to reiterate that any tickets bought from unauthorized sources will be at their own risk and may likely be invalid or fake tickets."