Rishi Was Abusive, Got Karan Hooked to Drugs: Pianist’s Friends

“Rishi was abusive, Karan was vulnerable” say Karan Joseph’s friends as they demand probe into the pianist’s death

Nearly a week after pianist Karan Joseph leapt to his death from the 12th floor of the Concord Building in Bandra, friends of the young musician are still in a shock. Many continue pointing fingers at Rishi Shah, Karan’s manager, who lived in the apartment, and witnessed the incident.

What has police probe revealed so far?

So far, statements of at least eight people have been recorded in the case. Initially, Karan’s death was being treated as a case of suicide. However, following allegations levelled by his family and friends that Karan was being harassed, the police registered a case of abetment to suicide.

According to Karan’s call logs, he made eight phone calls minutes before he died. Only two out of these were answered. Both the calls were international, and lasted under a minute.

While the police are hoping the two friends, who spoke to him, could help in the investigation, a series of text messages exchanged between Karan and his friend Randolph earlier that morning, reveal that the 29-year-old pianist was allegedly being beaten up. However, he did not name the person assaulting him.

Karan’s friends, however, believe his manager Rishi Shah played a crucial role in his death.

Who is Rishi Shah and how is he involved?

Rishi Shah is the CEO of Crossbones Media that published Rave magazine, which promotes emerging artists in India. Over the last one month, Shah had taken over as Karan’s manager.

According to Karan’s friends, soon after his association with Shah began, Karan began distancing himself from his other friends. Shah allegedly abused Karan mentally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically. Karan’s friends claim that Rishi Shah also got Karan Joseph drug dependent in a bid to control the young musician.

Rishi would get abusive sometimes. He created an environment for Karan that made him extremely vulnerable. He cut off Karan from his friends. There was a feud going on on the social media between Rishi and Karan’s friends – Rishi ridiculed them and Karan was caught in the crossfire.

Karan’s close friend

Even Karan’s colleagues say, they had a tough time dealing with Rishi Shah. While Karan had a great working relationship with Monish, whose restaurant he played at on Saturday nights, things took a slightly ugly turn once Rishi Shah started representing him.

“Karan was our In-house keyboardist for every Saturday and during August, we had a gig with Sarah Jane Dias, it was our one-year anniversary. Two days before the gig, he messaged saying, he won’t be playing this Saturday and asked us to speak to Rishi, his new manager. We were furious because it was right before the event and we had to practice for it. We asked Karan what happened but he refused to answer our calls and then Rishi sent us an Email saying, ‘From henceforth I’ll be dealing with Karan, etc, etc’. We did the gig without him. The next gig when we tried to book him again, there was some stupid problem with Rishi Shah. Then we decided not to contact Rishi Shah again. We messaged Karan saying, ‘If you want to play with us, lets deal with you directly’. Then we did another gig with Karan and he realised that he wanted to play with Miranda. So he messaged me saying, ‘Rishi doesn’t own me, deal with me directly henceforth and I’m up for playing with you’ll on Saturday.’ This was about 4 weeks ago” said Monish.

Police sources say allegations of drug abuse are also being investigated. In connection to this, the Bandra police had even detained an African national who allegedly peddled drugs next to the building where Rishi Shah lived on 12th September.

According to reports, days before Karan fell to his death, a woman living in the house below Rishi Shah’s told the police that she saw him hanging off the ledge with a plastic chain-like leash tied to his buckle. She also heard a lot of crying and screaming.

Police sources however, have said that Karan was trying to pick up a Rs 2000 note that had fallen on the ledge. Out of the three Rs 2000 notes that had allegedly fallen outside, one had fallen below their window.

Karan’s friends however, are skeptical of this reasoning, “It was on a ledge on the 12th floor of a building and since this was very close to the sea, it is extremely windy there at all times. If there was any note fallen on that ledge, wouldn’t it have been blown away by the wind right away?” asked Karan’s friend.

When The Quint reached out to Rishi Shah to find out his side of the story, Shah said he would prefer to speak only after the investigation is completed and that the last week has been very emotionally and mentally trying for him. “The truth is simply a point of view. The facts shall be disclosed soon, I promise” wrote Shah in his response.

According to reports, in his statement to the police, Shah had earlier said, “Karan arrived at my house around 7.30 am. My friend Suzana from Australia and I were home then; she was asleep. Around 8, she woke up and joined us. We were listening to music and chit-chatting. Karan told me that last night he was at a party at his friend Tej Brar's house, where Sohail and Varun and 10 to 15 other friends were present, and they all were upset with him (Karan). I told him to not take these things seriously and to enjoy the music. My domestic help got us juice then. Karan went and sat by the window with one leg hanging outside. And before I could think or even do anything, he jumped."

Remembering Karan ‘Madfingers’ Joseph

“He was an incredibly talented piano player, who was far ahead of his time, and was one of the most reliable keytarist I have worked with” said Joe Alvares, India’s Jazz Ambassador, who has worked with Karan Joseph on many gigs.

Karan’s skills with the keyboard earned him the nickname ‘Madfingers’ in the music circuit.

Originally from Bengaluru, Karan’s colleagues and family friends say he was a child prodigy, who started playing the keyboard when he was only five-years-old, a talent he had inherited from his grandmother.

With Honours and Distinctions from the Royal School of Music, Trinity College of Music, and the Bangalore School of Music, Karan also graduated from the Berklee College of Music in the US. His signature styles were Jazz, Funk, Rock and Blues. After a short stint in Pune, he shifted to Mumbai about four years ago, and had been performing gigs out of Mumbai since.

Last year has been huge for us. Karan toured with me for 20 international concerts. We played six in Jakarta at the Java Jazz festival, we played at ten concerts in Mexico, and did concerts in Colombia with a great band that included Gino Banks, Sheldon, Karan and I. He was our principal pianist, and he blew away the international audience, every time he played on stage. It was magical.

Joe Alvares, musician

With his career on the right track, Karan’s friends say he was also financially secure. “Karan had paid off his rent to the landlord, six months in advance. Three months out of that is still left”, said his friend.

Karan’s friends will be coming together on Saturday to pay their tribute to him at Veranda, a restaurant in Bandra that Karan played in every Saturday night for the last ten weeks during live concerts. This Saturday, the ‘Late Night Jazz’, where Karan was the star pianist, will be dedicated to him.

This week, we have decided to dedicate the Late Night Jazz to Karan, who has performed in seven out of the 15 gigs we have held here so far. We have decided to have an open bar and are welcoming people to make any sort of contribution if possible – even the smallest amount that they can afford. Even we are putting in the amount we owe Karan from his previous gig. We hope to accumulate this money to help an underprivileged child learn music. This is something Karan would have liked”

Rahul Rohra from Veranda

As the 29-year-old’s family and friends come to terms with his sudden demise, they also hope they will receive answers to the many questions that have been raised regarding the mysterious nature of his death.