There are currently two kinds of Indians. Those who have heard ‘Kolaveri’ and those who haven’t. Which category do you belong to?
I had face-un-booked myself last week but when I couldn’t abstain any more, I jumped right back into my account, and came across a link shared by a couple of blogger friends (Deeps and Vampire Brat, for instance). The title was ‘kolaveri’ and I opened it with very low expectations, as I am not that big a fan of Dhanush. But guess what? We have been listening to this very colloquial, crazy, silly song (in loop!!) for the last three days, with even my 5-year old singing it! I definitely did not see that coming!
First, click here to view the song on Youtube.
Second, tell me what you thought of it?
A small section of audience have expressed undisguised disgust at the song – for its poor lyrics, colloquial language, etc. and simply don’t understand what the hype is about!
Okay, I’m not ashamed to say I loved ‘Kolaveri’! It is perhaps even one of the worst songs ever, but it certainly is the most played song on my phone! It gets dangerous at times, though. Like yesterday, I was on the phone with my son’s school teacher, and there was this line ‘Cow-u cow-u … holy cow-u’ blasting away in the background. Ahem.. I might need to look for a new school soon. But, I digress (actually I don’t, but I like using that term ;-)). (Okay okay, I stole that line from Pixie’s post BUT to be fair, I did take her permission, mind it ;-))
But hey!! What makes a song/film a hit? I saw a Hindi film called ‘Dhobi Ghat’ the other day, and loved it. It was serious, sensible and left an impression (not to mention stellar performances by Aamir Khan, Monica Dogra and cute Prateik Babbar). Now Ra One, in comparison made absolutely no sense whatsoever! However, as you might have rightly guessed, while Dhobi Ghat was a below-average-box-office-hit, Ra One despite not being critically acclaimed, was supposedly a ‘hit’ in India and a ‘superhit’ overseas (so sayeth the great Wiki!)
So what makes something like ‘Kolaveri’ a global rage? The video has apparently grossed 3 million views on Youtube, and more than 8 million shares on FB!
Well, to me, it is very simply, what I can connect with!
Kolaveri is a song that EVEN I can sing! Take any aspect of it.. words/tune/lyrics.. it is all so colloquial that even a layman can understand every nuance of the song and totally identify with it. To give a background, this is supposedly a light-hearted song sung by a young boy who has been jilted in love. Ah! What better reach to an audience than an average loser being dumped by a hot (and fair-skinned!) girl! The lyrics are very simple .. one need not break his/her head to understand the meaning of ‘white-skinu-girl, girl heartu-black.. eyes-u eyes-u meetu meetu, my future darku’! As for the tune, I loved it. The background score is fresh, and very cleverly infuses a trace of folk music into a trendy beat, making it a peppy number. 
Add to it an immensely talented bunch of young stars (Dhanush, Aishwarya Rajnikanth and Shruthi Hassan) that are evidently enjoying the foot-tapping number even during the recording, and one finds it hard to not like this song!!
(Sorry, Count Bratula, I had to choose that meanie picture of your Shruti 😉 Buhahahaha 
:lol:)
More importantly, the world-wide success of this song (the latest video on FB is a group of Chinese dancers choreographing a dance to Kolaveri) has made me realise one thing. While perfection is great, being ‘real’ is far more attractive. Something that is technically perfect and outstanding, may not really be something I can relate to. For example, I simply do not enjoy authors who use ‘big words’. Blame it on my limited vocabulary, but I’d rather go for something simple, that I can enjoy.
I suppose this is the reason why authors like Chetan Bhagat are so popular! (Allow me to hastily clarify that I am NOT a fan of his!!). I now understand why, Bhagat, despite being far from the best writer around, has certain mass appeal. At a tangent, another example would be the runaway hit programme Kaun Banega Crorepathi. The programme is not merely about ‘knowledge’ or ‘trivia’ but about the fact that an ORDINARY man or woman, like you or me, actually stands a chance at something so magnificent. It is also why chick-lit (I truly find the term demeaning) is extremely popular, despite scoring low on the literary count.
One could argue that art that is too colloquial actually lowers standards. That is true to a certain extent. But don’t our standards change as we evolve as a society itself? Modern art, chick-lit, colloquial songs like DK Bose and Kolaveri for example… these too, are a part of our culture now. While at one time, classical dance forms was what India was famous for, today Bollywood dance is a dance form by itself, and has many takers around the world!
These new, simplified forms of art, may or may not be the best. They may not be perfect. However, they are accessible to you and me.
The success of art, therefore is based on the ability of viewers to connect with it. So as times change, our standards change to an extent too.
As I see it, ‘perfection’ itself is over-rated. Anything less than perfect, is not so bad after all. On the other hand, it might even be more interesting!
Kolaveri, like many other things, is far from being perfect. And therein exactly, lies its appeal!
So, my dear soup-u – boys-u and girls-u, now-u you tell-u me, ‘why this kolaveri?’
One of the most difficult decisions in our lifetime is choosing a name!
A name for anything important or special to you. Like your child, for example. Or a new venture. Its amazing how we want to find that most unique name of all, a name that no one else would think of! Only to realise, a couple of days after choosing it, that it is not so uncommon after all!!!!
Some of us ofcourse, think radically different, and assume we believe we have ‘hit the nail on the head’. Like these names (of shops/enterprises) that I came across during my last visit to Chennai…
* V-Solve Consultancy (Really! You solve things? Awesome! Didn’t know consultancies did that!!!)
* Sibling Revelry (This was the name of a children’s nursery/day-care. They probably assumed that the common man/woman uses ‘revelry’ in day-to-day conversations??! Or perhaps they hired V-Solve consultancy to come up with a name so unique ;-))
* Brainobrain academy (Naaiiice! One look at this name and you know your child is going to be the next Einstein, or atleast a home-grown IIT->IIM->Chetan Bhagat!!! No wonder parents fall for this! Btw, did they mean Brain-o-brain or BrainNObrain!)
* Interestingly, most boutiques here are one-word-names. Anokhi, Ananya, Shilpi, Pallavi (ahem!), Vastra, Lasya, Varsiddhi….you get the drift? They all seem to want to lean on heritage of some kind. Well, I’m not cribbing.. just commenting 😉
* The most creative names ofcourse, are those on the lines of Simla Snacks (What? The snacks are from Simla? Or is Chennai enjoying some Simla weather!), Babu Tea Stall (congrats, Mr.Babu!), Five Star department store (Really? Its more often than not, just a dingy little shop where underpaid shop-girls hover around you, lest you decide to nick something precious!!!), Classic tea shop.. and so on.
* And now, the best for the last. Very often people write words in English as an exact translation of the regional language. Like this one: ‘Swapna’ (a beautiful word that means ‘dream’). In the process of converting this from Tamizh to English, look at how they decided to name the venture: ‘Sopna Tailors’. Creativity at its best 🙄
So then, folks, here’s wishing you a very happy weekend. Have a great time.. and the next time you come across a name as creative as something above, do drop in a line to let me know 🙂
Cheerio….
(PS: This post is especially for Urmi and Ash, both of whom have been gently nudging me to revive ‘Crocodile Tales’ – for my newer friends, that was the erstwhile name of this blog :lol:! Now don’t ask me how or why I happened to choose that name!! 🙄 😉 😆 :lol:)
Just saw this post on someone’s FB page:
Every Women is a Rani Lakshmi bai
Every Women is a Rani Lakshmi bai
Lakshmi duing wedding
Bai after wedding
Hee hawwww 😆 🙄 😆
Happy Friday, folks! And happy long weekend (wherever applicable :-))
(PS: My apologies for not being regular at my blog or at yours!!! Will be back soon!!)
Technically, I’m still living Thursday (infact I have a good 45-minutes until Friday begins :-)). So here’s my post for Thursday Challenge, that has the theme ‘Green’ as I read on IHM’s blog.
I miss the green, spring has just about started here, but it is still chilly at times.
And, on that green note, tomorrow is the end of the week. Time certainly flies!!
x
Just received this email:
—————–
My Greetings to you,
Please Respond to me through my private email for more details and directives
( nanamohab1988@yahoo.fr )
It is my pleasure to write you, I decided to contact you to help me out of my problem, however is not mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honour against your will.
Please permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you.
I prayed and selected your name among other names due to my trust and my faith in God; I must not hesitate to confide in you for this simple and sincere clean business 100% risk free assurance. first Iet me introduce myself to you.
I am Miss Nana Mohab the only daughter of late Mr.Joseph Mohab My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan the economic capital of Ivory Coast West Africa.
My late father explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates. That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose such as real estate management or hotel management. I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
(1) To provide a bank account in which this money would be transferred into.
(2) To serve as a guardian of this fund since I am only 21 years old.
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and to secure a resident permit in your country.
Moreover, I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/input after the successful transfer of this fund into your bank account.
Please write back to me immediate you received this mail for us to proceed in this transaction which I believed that you shall call me for good news that you have confirm my money in an account which you will provide to the bank here.
Furthermore, you indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within seven (7) days you signify interest to assist me.
Please Respond to me through my private email for more details and directives
( nanamohab1988@yahoo.fr )
Thanks and God bless you.
Best regards,
Nana Mohab
Please share your favourite spam email/message!!!
Happy Friday, folks!!!!!
Bought this little Cartoon track train for the brat today. And this is what was printed on the box:-
‘hi! be possessed of the cartoon track train by yourself! new cartoon styles, some colours!’
And if that isn’t enough, read the ‘Special Function:
‘Magnetism connect! Car and car a magnetism conjunction!’
Needless to say, ‘Country of Origi-h: China!’
Anybody, please to be willing to helping me please contact in email! 😈 😈 😈
Writer-z-block 