Folk singer Kutle Khan has issued a detailed clarification addressing the controversy that erupted at the Bollywood Music Project (BMP) in Mumbai on 24 October 2026, after playback singer Shilpa Rao's microphone was abruptly switched off mid-performance. Khan, who had been criticised online for beginning his set while Rao was still attempting to address the audience, has now offered his account of the sequence of events.

What Kutle Khan Said

In a video statement shared on his Instagram on Tuesday, Khan maintained that all artists at the festival had been assigned fixed time slots and that he had acted strictly on instructions from the festival organisers. He revealed that his own set was trimmed — reduced from 20 minutes to just 1 minute at the organisers' behest — before he ultimately began his performance 8 minutes late.

'I would like to clarify about my performance and Shilpa ji's performance on social media for two days. What actually happened there? All the respected artistes who had come, their timing was fixed. And Shilpa ji's timing was also fixed. And in between, their mic was switched off, the lights were switched off. I don't know how this happened. And it shouldn't have happened at all,' Khan said in the video.

He further explained that when Rao called out to him from another stage — expressing a desire to thank the audience — he voluntarily paused his set to allow her to speak. He resumed only after repeatedly hearing instructions through his in-ear monitor to start again. 'I could hear in the in-ear that Kutli ji, start, start. So I started,' he said.

Khan Defends His Relationship With Shilpa Rao

Khan was emphatic that Shilpa Rao is a close friend and 'like a sister' to him, pushing back firmly against the wave of social media trolling directed at him. 'What is happening on social media right now, this troll that is going on, is very bad. It shouldn't happen at all,' he said, adding that the responsibility for the technical and scheduling decisions lay either with the festival organisers or the sound engineers on duty.

The BMP Incident: What Happened on 24 October

The controversy began when Rao's microphone input was cut off during her performance at the Bollywood Music Project festival in Mumbai, with the stage lights also reportedly switched off simultaneously. The abrupt interruption, and the near-simultaneous start of Khan's set, triggered widespread criticism on social media, with many users questioning whether the transition had been handled respectfully. Neither the BMP organisers nor their sound engineers had issued a public statement as of the time of Khan's clarification.

Where Accountability Lies

Khan's account places the responsibility squarely with the festival management, pointing out that he had no direct control over the sound mixing desk or stage lighting. This comes amid growing scrutiny over backstage coordination at large music festivals in India, where scheduling conflicts and technical glitches have increasingly played out publicly. Notably, the incident has drawn attention to the absence of a formal response from the BMP organisers, whose silence has only amplified the backlash online.

As the social media debate continues, industry observers say the episode underlines the need for clearer communication protocols between artists and event organisers at ticketed music festivals.