'Why This Kolaveri Di' () is a song from the soundtrack of the 2012
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
psychological thriller film ''
3'', starring
Dhanush and
Shruthi Hassan. The song is written and sung by Dhanush, and composed by
Anirudh Ravichander. It became one of the most streamed songs of all-time.
The song was officially released on 16 November 2011 and instantly became popular on social networking sites for its quirky "
Tanglish
Tanglish ( ta, தமிங்கிலம்) is the mixing or code-switching of the Tamil and English languages.
The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two languages and has been variously composed. The earliest form is ''Tamilish'' ...
" (
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...](_blank)
and English) lyrics.
Soon, the song became the most searched
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
video in India and an
internet phenomenon
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
across Asia.
Within a few weeks, YouTube honoured the video with a '"Recently Most Popular" ''Gold Medal '' award and "Trending" ''silver medal '' award for receiving many hits in a short time. Following its huge success and nationwide popularity, Dhanush, the singer of the original track, was invited by then-Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
as a "Guest of Honour".
Creation
According to composer
Anirudh Ravichander, the film's director
Aishwarya R. Dhanush wanted a light-hearted song about love failure. Ravichander quickly composed the tune in about 10 minutes.
Dhanush then began working on the lyrics, which he completed in about 20 minutes of brainstorming.
The first line he sang was "Why This Kolaveri?" which means "Why do you have this murderous rage against me girl?" The question, however, is not intended seriously.
In a party to ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'', Dhanush said: "When I was writing down the lyrics, I kept in mind all the English words that are used in the Tamil vocabulary. Words like I, you, me, how, why, cow. I just framed them into sentences and thats how I came up with the song." Dhanush sang the song in broken English, as a Tamil person might if his knowledge of English was limited. The song is also called a 'Soup' song, where 'Soup' (as in 'crying in
ame #REDIRECT AME
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
) is a colloquial Tamil word which refers to young men experiencing depression after love failure in a love relationship.
The song was recorded at
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...
's
AM Studios in Chennai. The Sound Engineer for this song is Siva Kumar S (Chief Audio Engineer),
Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios
The Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios is composer/music director A. R. Rahman's studios on his street at Kodambakkam, Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
History
The Inn was established in 1989, attached to Rahman's backyard, and developed into one ...
. The song was officially released after it was known to become popular after an accidental release on to the internet.
Composition
A downtempo song, "Why This Kolaveri Di" has been built around an ancient south Indian folk rhythm using ancient folk instruments. He used the
nadaswaram
The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala.
This instrument is "among the world's loudes ...
,
shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.[saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...]
urumee and
thavil
A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, folk ...
drums,
acoustic guitar,
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
mixed with electronic synths and scratches.
The instruments utilize the singing style of
Tamil folk culture
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
. The composer added a crescendo to make the instrumentation become more layered.
The words of the song are in a simple form of
Tanglish
Tanglish ( ta, தமிங்கிலம்) is the mixing or code-switching of the Tamil and English languages.
The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two languages and has been variously composed. The earliest form is ''Tamilish'' ...
, a mixture of
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. The song creates an imagery of an Indian boy who has gone through love failure. While singing, Dhanush creates a tone of being drunk, when he repeatedly asks why she (refers to
Shruti Haasan
Shruti Haasan (born 28 January 1986) is an Indian actress and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Born in the Haasan family, she is the daughter of actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan and actress Sarika Thakur.
...
's character) hurt him.
[ The words have been described as "nonsensical" by some and an evocation of "Tamil street humour".][ Dhanush has stated that the choice of words allows it to be a very relatable song.
]
Music video
The music video features Dhanush singing the song at AM studios, accompanied by Anirudh on a keyboard. His co-star Shruti Haasan and the director of ''3'', Aishwarya Rajinikanth
Aishwarya Rajinikanth (born 1 January 1982) is an Indian film director and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. She is the elder daughter of actor Rajinikanth and wife of actor Dhanush. She made her feature film directorial debut with '' ...
are seen listening in the background. The video was recorded by Abinandhan Ramanujam[
The video of the song in the film, '' 3'', was filmed in a set made to replicate the crowded shopping street of Chennai's Marina Beach. The video featured Dhanush and Sunder Ramu along with other extras singing the song, while Shruti Haasan makes an appearance towards the end of the video.
]
Records and achievements
Upon release, the hashtag ''#kolaveri'' topped the Indian trends in Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
on the evening of 21 November 2011 and was trended for three consecutive days. Within a week of the official release of the video, it received more than 3.5 million views on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, more than 1 million shares on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, while trending in India on Twitter the whole time. The song is also a hit among non-Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
, apparently due to the Tanglish lyrics. Soon after its release, the song was played on US radio station KZYX
KZYX (90.7 FM), is a National Public Radio member station in Philo, California. The studios are located at 9300 Highway 128 in Philo, CA, and the transmitter is located on Cold Springs Mountain (near Philo, CA) in the State of California Departm ...
FM by Mister X, on his show, ''Music Out of Bounds''. By 30 November 2011, it had more than 10.5 million YouTube views. By the start of 2012, it had crossed 30 million YouTube views. The song and versions of it account for more than 200 million of YouTube's total views. The song became the top downloaded song on mobile with 4,100,000 downloads within the first 18 days of release. On 24 November 2011, this song became the first Tamil film song to premier on MTV India
MTV India is an Indian pay television channel specialising in music, reality and youth culture programming. It was launched in 1996 as the Indian version of MTV and is owned by Viacom 18, a joint venture operation between MTV International ow ...
. The video was shared by 1.4 million people, liked by 1.8 million people and received more than 1.1 million comments. As of November 2020, the song has 235 million views on YouTube, becoming the second most viewed Tamil song on YouTube only bested by "Rowdy Baby
Rowdy Baby is a Tamil language song composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for the soundtrack of the 2018 action comedy film ''Maari 2'' and sung by Dhanush alongside Dhee. The song was officially released on 28 November 2018 as a single from the film. ...
" from ''Maari 2
''Maari 2'' is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Balaji Mohan. It is a sequel to his 2015 film '' Maari''. Dhanush, besides producing the film under his company Wunderbar Films, also stars as the title c ...
'', another Dhanush-starrer.
Imitations and parodies of this song have been created, including versions in different Indian languages, a female version, and versions about current events at that time. Its rapid spread to nightclubs and discos in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan were reported soon after release, and a viral video of Japanese women dancing to it spread soon afterwards. Police officers in India used versions of the song and its title to combat road rage and encourage bike riders to wear helmets. The popularity of the song was also reported by international media like BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, who attributed its major crossover world appeal to its universal theme, catchy tune and unique lyrics.