Decoding the success of “Why this Kolavari Di”

                                                                                                              Image Courtesy:     http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article2650957.ece

Recently released song “Why this kolaveri di”, which has gone viral on the internet, consists of some crucial factors, which make it a super-hit song quite naturally, like – extremely catchy composition, rhythm that sounds like Indian-pulse, and very simple yet highly creative lyrics. In addition, simplified English has succeeded in reaching to the masses like never before, while bridging the south and the north. Many people have written on such factors, but none has mentioned the factor that I feel is the crux of its success. After reading this article, it should not be a puzzle any more why this song of the upcoming Tamil-movie “3” received nearly 3million hits on its Youtube page in just one week. Here’s why:

People of India (and of the world) are biased, especially when it comes to “gender”. Large scale organizations are functioning to support women in every part of the country. Everyone has simply assumed that male is a dominant creature and the poor female needs to be empowered to secure her rights. As a result, we have laws that favour female, and we have created a society that severely discriminates against men. The feminists would argue that look at the number of crimes against women ranging from dowry, rape to home violence. The answer is simple – “Please don’t generalize”. There are unfortunate crimes and let’s make our country more secure place for everyone, but it is highly pitiful to feed into the public perception that the villain is always a man. Imagine what will happen to a young guy if he’s involved in an accident with a lady (of any age). Without a doubt, no one would give even one chance to the boy to tell his side of the story, and the people would beat him until some miracle happens and the guy finds a chance to abscond. This is a classic case of gender discrimination that boys face.

The biggest adversaries are the “good” guys. I would define a Good Guy (GG) as someone who always respects a woman and has no wishes to play games with her emotions. One, who does not qualify to be a GG, is a Bad Guy (BG). Because, the society and especially girls do not have any mechanism to identify GGs from the pool of BGs, GGs end up being (mis)treated as BGs. I have always been a GG (certified by my wife), hence I can safely write the following memo on behalf of all GGs to the “Beautiful Girl”, who either mercilessly dumps a GG or does not even bother having a GG in life.

“We, the good guys, very well understand the Bad Guys around, and why/what they are hunting for. But, we fail to understand why you give so much of importance to the BGs. We focus on studies and career only because we can provide shelter and security (physical, economical, social and so on) to you in future. Things are so unclear and uncertain. We don’t know what career we shall have, what will be our salary or how we’ll take care of family. And because we are GGs, we consider our parents and siblings (of both-sides, ours and yours) as part of our family, not just me, you and our children. In addition, we also care for the betterment of the state and country and the world we live in. Amidst all these daunting challenges of future responsibilities, we remain committed to you. You also know we won’t cheat on you. But, despite all of our truthfulness and candour, you end up having a relationship with a BG. You make us realize “love is not just blind, but it is highly foolish”. And “love becomes deaf” when you won’t listen to any of our warnings. We would silently walk out of your life wishing, truly, the very best for you”.

W

hy this Kolaveri Di is a song that brilliantly touches the gist of this feeling of millions of GGs, also called “soup boys”, who end up being dumped or remain being ignored and could never really figure out the why of "di's kolaveri”, which means girl's murderous rage. Actor, singer and lyricist of the song, Dhanush begins with, "Yo boys I am sing song... a soup song", the words that clearly support the analyses presented here. This song has given voice to those millions of GGs, who always remained respectful, committed and faithful yet received only kolavari, who otherwise were scattered around the corners of the world attempting to understand that “why” in isolation and loneliness. This song has not answered that “why”, but it has assured them that they are not alone; there are millions of them. GGs have finally found some resonance in the form of this song that there is nothing wrong with them. Perhaps it is the fate of that particular girl with the “black” heart, which makes her a BG (Bad Girl), one who does not respect man and wishes to play games with his emotions, and a better match with a Bad Guy.  A Good Guy on one the hand is discriminated for the ills done by the Bad Guys, and on the other hand looses the girl as she opts for a BG over him. This is indeed a tragedy. The last few lines of the song go like this:

"God-u I am dying now-u,

She is happy how-u?

This-u song-u for soup-boys-u,

We don't have choice-u...."

In the end, the background music in Shehnai* like tone, giving the hint of what could have happened otherwise, clearly underscores the acme of irony. Unfortunately, the masses are unlikely to understand this endemic pain of GGs and will find their heartbreak amusing. No wonder people call “why this kolaveri di” a funny song.        

You decide:

(Courtesy: Sony Music India SME. Video shot during the recording of the song with the music composer Anirudh,Dhanush,Shruti Hassan, Aishwarya and Sound Engineer Sivakumar)

I welcome your comments....

*Shehnai is often played in traditional Indian weddings (at least in movies)...

Smart readers must have identified serious logical flaws in the article. The fact is that this article is for an intellectual entertainment, and no logic is needed for liking a song. Have fun and enjoy the music... Cheers :D

For meaning of Why This Kolaveri Di? Song Lyrics: http://buffernews.com/6585/meaning-kolaveri-di-song-lyrics

Expectations from Ghayal Returns

Image Courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article2096213.ece

Ghayal-fans must be aware of its sequel movie, Ghayal Returns, which is scheduled to be released in 2012. I sincerely hope it is not simply “just-another action-entertainment” movie. Ghayal has been a very special movie for me. And I wish that whosoever is making its sequel is mindful of its core elements. In this article I shall share my story to explain why Ghayal is so personal to me and what I think its core elements are.

If I am asked to list movies that impacted my life profoundly, Ghayal would easily top the list. I remember quite well that I was in first standard, when this movie was released.  I along with my whole family (i.e., my parents, elder brother, all uncles, aunts and my cousins; about 15 people in total), had gone to drive-in cinema in Ahmedabad. It was my first ever “drive-in cinema” experience, and I still have a few glimpses of that visit enshrined in memory. 
[Note: For summary of story of Ghayal click: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghayal_(1990_film)]

At that time, quite obviously, I did not understand the story but something was telling me from inside- “this is something extraordinary”. I don’t remember exactly what was going through my mind while watching the movie, but I am absolutely sure about the effect it generated in me afterwards. For several days the movie scenes were repeatedly being played in my mind. Movie had raised a lot of questions – “can a system be so unjust? What can one do when the system itself is rotten? What will I do, if I face such situations of systematic injustice?” My five year old mind had concluded that I had to be physically strong and powerful like Ajay Mehra (Sunny Deol) to fight against villains like Balawant Rai. Nobody in my home exercised, so I started exercising in private, keeping doors closed of my room, to develop a muscular physic like Ajay Mehra.

In my school, Vishwabharati at Shahpur, I and my friends started forming a gang like Ajay had. I remember some of my close gang members’ names - Suhel, Robin, Harshid, Wasim (there were others but I have forgotten names). Unstated primary objective of our gang was to secure the territory of our classroom-lobby in the recess-time from big-boys (students of std 2 and above). The problem was that all classes had shared balcony, and the big boys would play in the whole portion leaving no space for us. And whenever, a first-grader (my class) would get in the way of the big boys, they would beat him with no-mercy. This was completely unfair to us, just because they were more powerful one-on-one. There was no point in complaining to the teachers, as they had hundreds of complaints everyday and their response was no different than that of Police-Commissionaire to Ajay– “I’ll look into the matter”. We had then decided to defend the portion of balcony that covered our class-room (we called it ‘our part’). We would guard the borders of our part and if a big boy infiltrated, we would all strike simultaneously, needless to say, with no-mercy. Within a few days the big boys started respecting our portion and us, as they had self-experienced our collective strength. Gradually, we started providing protection to our classmates, who might have received threats from big-boys of getting beaten up. Also, we gained so much courage that if any of our classmates was beaten, we would enter big-boys’ territory and knock down the perpetrator in front of girls of their class. Quite obviously, my name started appearing in the complaint list. And in the 3^rd standard, my parents decided to change my school. The new school, Abhijat Shishuvihar, had students of completely different background. My class had 15 girls and 2 boys and almost no fights. All my high adrenaline adventures died down.

As I grew up, I have turned to socially acceptable and legal ways of fighting systematic injustice. But the fire that keeps me going is fueled by the core elements of Ghayal, which I have seen countless times over all these years. This movie has made me not to forget any acts of systematic injustice to me or to anyone else. An incidence of systematic injustice gets recorded in my long term memory as it happens, and then I strive to gain strength to be able to fight the system and to change it forever. In one of scenes of Ghayal, inspector Sharma slaps an innocent collegian just to show his police-power. Ajay calmly walks a few steps to pick up the boy’s specs and gives it back to him saying – “Is chot ko apne dil aur dimaag par kayam rakhna. Kal yahi aansu kranti ka sailaab bankar is mulk ki sari gandagiko baha lejayenge”. [Always remember this blow in your heart and mind. Tomorrow, these same tears will turn into the tides of revolution and flood out all dirt of this country.]       

Recording of such pain is especially important for making our world a better place. It is very likely that in current circumstances we may not be in position to respond to systematic violence and injustice, but we have to wait till we gain required strength to respond. We ought not to forget such events. We shall be able to focus our actions on fight against systematic injustice, if we constantly are mindful of it. So that nobody in future has to suffer what we had to or what people of our times had to suffer. When Varsha (Meenakshi Sheshadri) asks Ajay if killing Balawant Rai is the correct solution, Ajay responds, “It’s not about me or my family. I agree that it will not restore the happiness of this home, but it will surely save many more families”. This point puts this movie to a completely different level. It is not simply a story of revenge, but it goes far beyond than that. It is a story of securing lives of vulnerable and at-risk families, who could easily fall into the trap of big drug mafia like Balawant Rai, who otherwise pretends to be a white-color businessman in public. 

In addition, every rotten system has at least one dedicated official of high integrity. This is underscored by the character of Assistant Commissionaire of Police, Mr. D’ Souza, performed by Om Puri. Systemic reform is best possible when both upward and downward pressures are applied simultaneously, when people inside the system are as frustrated (if not more) as people outside the system. An epic dialog of ACP D’ Souza goes like this – “Jab bhi Kanoon ke haatho insaaf ka khoon hoga, ek naya Ajay paida hoga”. [Whenever legal system will perpetrate injustice, a new Ajay will born.]  

I was also struck by Varsha's character performed by Meenakshi Sheshadri. Her dedication and unconditional love was Ajay's biggest strength. It made me realize the importance of people who love and care for us. No matter how hard you try, you are going to need support; and you need to value and cherish people committed to you and your cause. How can anyone understate the contribution of Ajay's gang members, who fought on his side till their last breath? And in the final scene, when Ajay was captured by the police and had absolutely no possibility of accomplishing his mission, it was Varsha who generated an opportunity for him.  

For me, Ghayal is much more than smashing dialogues or thrilling action sequences. This movie had convinced my five year old mind that one man can stand up against the system and emerge as a triumphant reformist. Whenever, I see Ghayal, my that belief is corroborated and strengthened. For the world it is Director Rajkumar Santoshi's or lead actor Sunny Deol's film, but I have always considered it mine. [Deep inside me, I felt being ignored, they did not even consult me before deciding to make its sequel!!!] 
I am looking forward to Ghayal Returns that reinforces these powerful character-values with a newer story-line.  

I welcome your comments....

Why Bhaag DK Bose makes complete sense…

(This is an original article. Many Bollywood news websites, including that of Bollywood Hungama News Network, have pasted this article on their page without permission or proper credits. I condemn such violation of my copyrights. I highly appreciate Ahmedabad Mirror for raising up this issue: http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/20110607201106070248346861642e50f/City-blogger-gets-splogged-.html - Kathan Shukla, Blogger)

Many are surprised by the lyrics of the song ‘Bhaag DK Bose’. There have been many Indian songs containing explicit slangs, but they failed to enter into the mainstream. But, this particular song is from the movie Delhi Belly of Aamir Khan Production, which is undoubtedly one of the most successful production houses in India. Quite obviously, the conservatives will find it very hard to tolerate this song being played in their living rooms. They would consider it outrageous, anti-social, and vulgar; and would do everything possible they could to isolate their children (age does not matter) from such bad media influence.

However, the song has a unique feature that touches the youth. The crux of the success of the song lies in the philosophy of its genre, the Punk Rock. This genre of music symbolizes the rebellious nature of individuals, especially of youth. It is an expression of free thinkers, who challenge the traditional way of thinking, behaving and living. People who create such music simply cannot accept everything as it is. They hate all those who try to take decisions on their behalf – this may include family members, teachers, bosses, big corporate houses, and of course, the governments & politicians. They simply raise a question – “who the hell are you to take decisions for me?” These iconoclasts cannot tolerate monopolies, privileged classes or elite groups; and they simply cannot remain silent against structural/systematic injustice. They speak out loudly– “F**k your elitism, blind-traditions and your monopolies. I reject you… You can neither stop me nor shut me off”.

Coming back to the song ‘Bhaag DK Bose’, the traditional view in the Indian culture is - 'one should fight against all odds, no matter how big a challenge is. Consider life-problems as tests given by the god; and have faith in god, who will make everything right. This will help you suffer all hardships patiently'. The song rejects this view. It responds- 'when you are detested and underestimated by the family, when you are surrounded by misfortunes, when girlfriend (or boyfriend) and money are too hard to get, and when the crescendo of tragedies is inundating you, what’s wrong in running away? Just run away - you DK Bose*. Life isn’t worth fighting battles that the society wants you to fight. That will only create tension and frustration in you. Just run away from all those battles and remain a free Kabootar (dove)'.

Without a doubt the youth has a lot to identify with this song. Youngsters live amidst significant uncertainties and social pressure. They have a lot many people telling them what to do and what not to. Then there is uncertainty of having a bright career, good life partner and a high socio-economic status. And above all, they find a cut-throat competition in almost every aspect of life, whether it is admissions, job, or business or even life-partner. Such a song and music were always on the cards in the Indian cinema; it was only a matter of time. Whether you agree with the ideas presented by the song is a different story, but it surely will polarize the public opinion. And we should fasten our seat-belts - as more of such songs will surely follow if this movie succeeds.

*DK Bose makes sense in Hindi when you put Bose before DK.

I welcome your comments....