Dhanush sings Kolaveri di

Why this why this why this Kolaveri di...!

DJ Girish had heard it and liked it earlier in the week, but hadn’t expected requests from the dance floor just yet. At Shisha on Saturday, when the cry went up for Kolaveri di, Girish decided not to risk a wave of murderous rage (that’s what the name of the song literally means!) at the nightclub, so he plugged in his iPhone, connected to YouTube and played the song of the season. “It was crazy. I didn’t have it on my playlist. But when requests started coming in, I just played it from my iPhone,” he says.

Move over Chammak challo. The “white skin-u girl-u/ girl-u heart-u black-u” is here. Composed by Anirudh Ravichander and sung by actor Dhanush, the song — or rather colloquial drawl — from the soundtrack of upcoming Tamil film 3, went viral after being leaked on YouTube and has now invaded the nightclubs.

But then it’s hardly a dance number. “Well, people were just swaying to the rhythm and when the song goes ‘pa pa pa pa…’, they were singing along,” says DJ Girish.

Naveen, 22, was in Underground (HHI) on Friday when the DJ played it. “It was right at the end of the evening and was an instant hit. Even those who were standing near the bar hit the dance floor,” he recalls.

DJ Harish, who has already played it at Dublin (ITC Sonar Calcutta), at private parties in town and also at a party in Jamshedpur, lists three reasons for the rage called Kolaveri di. “The tune and rhythm are very catchy, the vocals are English, even if Tamil-accented, and the video has an impromptu feel to it.”

The video stars Dhanush (also Rajinikanth’s son-in-law) and Shruti (Kamal Haasan’s daughter) having a blast while recording the Tanglish (English words in a Tamil accent) track. “I think the casualness of the number and the fact that it sounds like we are having fun is what has really caught on,” Dhanush had told t2 last week. YouTube, Twitter and Facebook did the rest.

But it’s not just teens who are hooked on the track. Tapas Bandopadhyay, 54, who has Kolaveri di as his mobile caller tune said: “I like the lyrics. It’s an old tale told in a new way and the video is also refreshing.”