Nonsensical, Semi-English Music Video Goes Viral in India

The song's lyrics are practically gibberish, but India can't stop listening.

  • Share
  • Read Later

In a country with more than one billion residents and more than 100 million Internet users, when a song goes viral on the web in India it really gets noticed.

That’s certainly the case with bizarre broken English / Tamil language song “Kolaveri Di” – translation “Killer Rage” – which is part of the music to upcoming Tamil film 3, the BBC reports. The catchy tune’s generated nearly 11 million views on YouTube to date – and probably more by the time you read this.

(LIST: The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos)

Perhaps the ballad’s universal theme is part of its appeal – apparently it’s about a guy who’s been dumped by his girlfriend. The song is also notable for its pretty nonsensical use of words, employing a unique language probably best described as “Tamglish” – mixing Tamil and English.

In once section for instance singer Dhanush, son-in-law of Rajinikanth, one of Tamil cinema’s biggest stars, sings “eyes-u, eye-u, meet-u, meet-u.” In another he croons “distance-la moonu moonu.”

The actor performed the song for the movie, which is directed by his wife Aishwarya. “We all expected it to be a hit by not the kind of rage that it has become today,” Anirudh Ravichander, who composed the track, told the BBC.

LIST: The Top 5 Viral Videos in October

In a country with more than one billion residents and more than 100 million Internet users, when a song goes viral on the web in India it really gets noticed.

That’s certainly the case with bizarre broken English / Tamil language song “Kolaveri Di” – translation “Killer Rage” – which is part of the music to upcoming Tamil film 3, the BBC reports. The catchy tune’s generated nearly 11 million views on YouTube to date – and probably more by the time you read this.

(LIST: The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos)

Perhaps the ballad’s universal theme is part of its appeal – apparently it’s about a guy who’s been dumped by his girlfriend. The song is also notable for its pretty nonsensical use of words, employing a unique language probably best described as “Tamglish” – mixing Tamil and English.

In once section for instance singer Dhanush, son-in-law of Rajinikanth, one of Tamil cinema’s biggest stars, sings “eyes-u, eye-u, meet-u, meet-u.” In another he croons “distance-la moonu moonu.”

The actor performed the song for the movie, which is directed by his wife Aishwarya. “We all expected it to be a hit by not the kind of rage that it has become today,” Anirudh Ravichander, who composed the track, told the BBC.

LIST: The Top 5 Viral Videos in October