Download A Tamil film song in broken English has gone viral on the internet and has kicked up a storm in India and around the world.
The official version of the pop song, Kolaveri or Killer Rage, was viewed nearly 30 million times in the first month it was uploaded.
Many call it the youth anthem.
Bismillah Geelani in New Delhi tries to find out why it’s been much a phenomenal success.
If you are in India there is no way you could not have heard this song.
It’s being played everywhere and everyone seems to be humming along with it.
Even those who have no idea what the lyrics mean are enjoying it like university lecturer, Kajal Khanna
“I really like the song even though I don’t quite understand it but I think it’s a very catchy song.”
This song has been composed for an upcoming Tamil film called 3.
The lyrics are a collection of broken sentences made up from a mix of English and Tamil words.
Tamil Actor Dhanush who wrote and sings the song says the idea was to turn a sad scene in the film into a funny one.
“It is a very simple and silly song. You can understand that the boy has been dumped by the girl and he just freaks out, he is not crying and singing a sad song, he just freaks out and makes fun of the entire situation and himself. It is put in a very funny way.”
And the making of the song was as funny as the song itself, says Anirudh Ravichandar, the 21-year old Music Director of the film.
“The hero came and heard the tune and he said it was very good. Then he asked me if there was a mike, I gave him a dummy mike, he took it and I don’t know what kind of mood he was in, the first line he came up with was “Why this Kolaveri di” broken Tamil and English together, I thought why not have the concept throughout the song. To date there are no lyrics sheets for the song, which the singers write down and sing, nothing like that, it all happened in a flow and the whole song was made in a matter of 20-25 minutes.”
A rough version of the song first appeared on YouTube in mid-November.
And within just a few days it became a nationwide hit.
It was viewed by more than 80 thousand in the 24 hours after it was uploaded.
25-year-old Call Center agent Gaurav Kumar is not a big music fan but loves this song.
“I heard everyone talking about it and I was a little curious and when I went to the YouTube I was amazed to see that more than 5 million people have already viewed it. I think it’s unfair to call it just a good song. It’s superb.”
Given the attention the song was getting, the film makers decided to release an official video on the internet.
In less than a month it has been watched by more than 30 million people.
The song has inspired a number of imitations and parodies in different international languages.
Music lovers in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand are dancing along to its tunes while in the neighboring Pakistan it has been turned into an anthem demanding democracy.
While in India dozens of versions of the song have been made….
This is the latest version doing the rounds of the internet - it praises the anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
The success of the song has made actor Tamil actor Dhanush a household name across the country.
But what makes it so hugely popular remains a mystery even to him.
“The recognition the song has got inside India was itself surprising. This is something beyond our expectations and imagination. Up to a point I also have to ask the question that everybody is asking and that is what is in this song? What is it that is clicking with anybody internationally? We did it spontaneously and we didn’t plan anything, I just have to thank God and I’m really happy that an Indian song is going beyond borders.”
Amidst all the fanfare and adulation, the song has also attracted some scathing criticism.
Renowned Hindi Lyricist Javed Akhtar Describes it as “insult to sensibility”.
But Dhanush brushes off the criticism.
“When a million people accept your art it doesn’t matter which language it is in or which method it is in. It is just that people accept it. We are here to entertain, our job is to entertain, and it is not to develop a language. People are getting entertained and they enjoyed it.”
LEARN ENGLISH:
Vocabularies:
1) viral on the internet: merambah ke internet
2) kicked up a storm: menghebohkan
3) catchy: menarik; mudah diingat
4) entire: seluruh
5) amazed: takjub, terpana, kagum
6) dumped: mencampakkan, membuang
7) scathing criticism: kritik yang pedas
8) insult to sensibility: penghinaan pada rasa kepekaan
9) curious: penasaran
10) dozens: lusinan, puluhan
Questions:
1) What is the song called Kolaveri Di song about and who sang it?
2) Which film is it from and what are the lyrics about?
3) How many other versions are there and from which countries?
4) How does Dhanush feel about the huge popularity of this song?
5) Who criticized the song and what did he say about it?
