US-based firm to sue him for cancelling concert three times. Bollywood singer in turn says it is the organisers who failed to fulfil several contractual obligations for the shows slated for November 2015
Mohit Chauhan
Singer Mohit Chauhan could find himself in some really hot water, with an event management company in the US planning legal action against him for reneging on a contract — not once, but three times — to perform live there. Officials from ProMarcom Inc are now demanding half a million US dollars (Rs 3.18 crore) in compensation from the singer and are planning legal proceedings both in India and the US.
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Mohit Chauhan
When we contacted Chauhan, his management refuted the allegations, saying it was not the singer, but the US company that was to blame. In their statement sent to us by e-mail, they said, "These allegations are baseless and with mala fide intentions. The company breached their contract with us three times. Despite non-performance of their contractual obligations, we tried to accommodate them every time, yet they were unable to fulfill the terms of contract. We have suffered immensely both financially and professionally because we were unable to take up other concerts and other professional engagements due to these people."
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Padma Tanniru, an official from ProMarcom Inc, had a different tale to tell. She said, "The concert was initially scheduled to be held in June 2015, but because Mohit did not have a band of his own, which he did not tell us about while signing the contract, we were forced to postpone it to September. In September, we were told that one band member had contracted dengue, while another one's papers were not in order. The concert was once again postponed, to November. On November 21, 2015, just before they were to board the flight to the US, we got an e-mail from Mohit's wife, Prarthna, who is also his manager, saying that she wanted the daily allowance amount to be hiked and asked for the contract copy right then."
Tanniru added, "This was a ridiculous request. But, we said all this would be done the moment they landed in the US. Yet, she was not willing to listen and once again, we had to cancel the concert." She said the company had already paid Chauhan his performance fee of Rs 48 lakh. "Ever since, we have been trying to get Mohit to give us our money back, but in vain."
Asked why the company waited nine months before planning legal proceedings, Padma said that was because they were hoping to sort the matter out with Chauhan. They had made repeated calls and sent innumerable messages to him. Two months ago, they finally sent a notice to Chauhan, but still got no response. The company is now in the process of filing a legal case in India as well as with the immigration courts in California against Chauhan for "absconding" with their money.
Tanniru said apart from Chauhan's performance fee, they had spent money on booking, re-booking and cancellations of two venues, San Jose and Seattle, marketing the concerts, processing visas for his 14-member crew, travel tickets and hotel booking among several other expenses. "We are disturbed by Mohit's unprofessional attitude. He has not bothered to respond to calls, messages, e-mails or notices sent by us. We took a huge chance by investing in his concert. Yet, he didn't turn up despite receiving his performance fee in advance. We also spent a large amount of money to set up the concerts at San Jose and Seattle," Tanniru said.
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