With tweets from the Big B, Shahid Kapur and Facebook posts from Dhanush’s alleged archrival, Simbu, the Kollaveri song has definitely captured the imagination of celebrities across the board. Salman Rushdie has even compared it to the epic Macarena tune.
The promo video of Kollaveri has Shruti Haasan intently listening to Dhanush’s rhythmic rendition of the now viral song. “I was amazed at his ease and the way in which he sang. He did an awesome job. The best part was no one in the team tried too hard to promote it or even thought that it would become such a huge hit.” She continues, “The song I’ve sung is very different and I was confident, but I was simply blown away by Anirudh and Dhanush’s talent.”
In an industry where Illayaraja or R.D. Burman are still the poster boys for good music and trained “soulful” voices are still sought after, is this a shock to the system? “The definition of success and good music changes all the time. I have grown up listening to Illayaraja’s music and I love it. Similarly, when something new like this comes along, there is a bandwidth that it caters to as well.”
After a brief reflection, she smiles saying, “You cannot compare people, leave alone people from two different generations.”
On the USP of the song, Shruti says, “There’s a great connect across the spectrum. There are English lyrics, which you don’t normally have in a Kollywood song. It also popularises a colloquial language that hasn’t had such a wide reach before.”
On the role of Twitter and YouTube in the song’s popularity, she says, “It’s the youth who are driving the music industry now. The best part — this song unites the old timers and the youth because of its unique fresh appeal.”
On Aishwarya Dhanush and the 3 film’s team, she says, “Anyone would kill for such publicity before the film’s release but the beauty lies in the fact that Aishwarya didn’t try to milk it. She’s an awesome person to work with. It’s not easy to get the song right despite all the help; but she knew exactly how to make it work and Dhanush helped.”
Shruti also clarifies that she’s not on Facebook. “I am not on Facebook at all and the Shruti Haasan who is networking with actors and friends and trying to comment on Kollaveri is a fake. She is much nicer than I am, but please, none of her opinions are mine.”