On October 24, Shilpa Rao, known for her Bollywood hits like “Chaleya” and “Besharam Rang,” had been on the main stage at the 10th anniversary of Bollywood Music Project for about 20 minutes when her mic was turned off. She went backstage, returned to say goodbye to the attendees, and ended up having to speak over a band that had started playing on the festival's second stage. Later that night, she posted a note on Instagram saying a piece of her heart had broken and her story had been left unfinished. Within a few hours, clips had spread on social media, and everyone was looking for someone to put the blame on.
Those clips are the least revealing part of the night. Accounts from an attendee who spoke to Rest in Beats News, from Kutle Khan’s manager and from Bollywood Music Project’s own apology point to a plainer explanation. The festival booked more artists than the curfew could hold, and when the hours were running out, it decided to cut set times. That time came, overwhelmingly, from the artists lower down on the lineup.
Main-stage acts were given between 30 and 45 minutes while side-stage acts were about 15 to 20. Kutle Khan's manager, Sharad Sharma, has said Bollywood Music Project secured permission for only one day, which forced a large lineup into a single evening, and that a three-hour sound check by Himesh Reshammiya set the schedule back. From there the delays compounded, each late start pushing the next, until the curfew was bearing down on whoever was scheduled near the end.
By the attendee's account, backed by several of the most-liked comments under Bollywood Music Project's apology, the longest set of the night belonged to Anu Malik, who brought his two daughters and another guest performer on stage and refused to leave. He was not cut. Himesh Reshammiya’s set was halved, and he still played past the curfew.
On the side stage, the cuts were steeper. Kutle Khan, the Rajasthani folk singer, was booked for 30 minutes and got eight to ten, according to his manager. Bombay Bandook got only around 15 minutes, enough for a single original and a few covers, the attendee said. Smaller acts barely addressed the audience at all, citing that they couldn’t because they had to get through their setlist.
Every festival has a hierarchy, and most of the time it’s shown in font sizes on a poster, in who plays which stage and in how long each set runs. Audiences and artists largely accept it, because headliners sell the tickets and the act at the bottom of the bill knows the arrangement. That ranking, however, is supposed to govern how time is divided when a schedule is drawn, not whose time gets cut when the night goes wrong. A curfew drags it into the open because it forces a choice, and Bollywood Music Project’s curfew was no surprise since it came attached to a permit.
Photo: Courtesy of Bling Ping Motion Pictures
Seen that way, the moment everyone watched looks different. Rao went backstage after her mic was cut and Kutle Khan began on the side stage. She then came back, told him he was doing a good job and asked for a moment to say goodbye, and while she was addressing the audience, his band started performing again. Sharma's version runs along similar lines from the opposite side. He says Kutle Khan paused for Rao and that the organizer repeatedly told him to restart. Set aside the question of blame and the two accounts barely conflict: two artists who lost most of their slots were placed across two stages, and the decision about when the music resumed belonged to neither of them.
Bollywood Music Project's apology described the circumstances as "entirely out of our control," citing local authority guidelines, venue curfew regulations, compounding delays and "extended sets from earlier performances." The last item on that list is a choice. The festival let some artists play long, and others paid for it. The festival's followers seemed to understand that. The most-liked comment sarcastically asked ChatGPT to produce a heartfelt apology that sounded human; others named the acts who had overrun without consequence.
In 2023, police stopped A.R. Rahman mid-song at his Pune concert for running past the 10 p.m. limit, an episode he later shrugged off as his "Rockstar moment." In February 2025, police unplugged Ed Sheeran during a busk on Bengaluru's Church Street, hours before his concert. In both cases, the authorities enforced a rule on whoever held the mic, with no exception, and there was a blunt fairness in that. A curfew enforced by police doesn’t care who holds the mic, but at Bollywood Music Project, the festival did.
The cost isn’t shared evenly, either. A headliner whose set is shortened has had a bad night, but for a side-stage act, a slot is a rare chance for them to play for thousands who might leave as fans. Rao's goodbye travelled because she has the name and the following, while most of the sets that lost time that night will never get a post or statement in an apology.
Festivals can fix most of this without needing new regulations or lenient police. Hold every act to its set duration, from the headliner to the side stage. If an artist overruns, the answer shouldn't be to take time from someone further down the bill. A curfew applies to everyone, and the responsibility for enforcing it should, too.
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