Save your breath. The World Cup is going nowhere for the next four years, the IPL trophy is. As the country prepares to dive into another seven weeks of tense cricketing action starting this evening when Chennai Super Kings take on the Kolkata Knight Riders, fans will be torn between their loyalties towards the stars of the World Cup victory and their own favourite teams.
A fresh battle calls for a new anthem. And, homeboy BlaaZe and his buddy Paul Jacob have come up with a brand new victory chant for the home team inspired by Bharathiyar. ‘Dheem Tharikita,' is the latest song to cheer the team after the official theme song and the crowd-pleasing street-savvy ‘Whistle Podu'.
“A friend of mine from Singapore, Murali, gave me the idea to do the song. ‘We all come to Chennai to see the matches. We need a chant. Will you make one?' So, I recorded an idea and sent it to Paul Jacob and he came up with a great thought on how powerful Bharathiyar's victory chants are and Dheem Tharikita was born,” says BlaaZe.
The duo plans to spread the song through underground and viral channels. “And the reward would be to hear the fans chanting for victory in Bharathiyar style!” Blaaze adds.
BlaaZe has been working on a Thirukkural project for the last two years. “The first song, Kural, was released along with A.R. Rahman's biography. “Bharathiyar and Thiruvalluvar are known for their great writings and thoughts and we would like to consciously keep alive through whichever way we know best.”
The team management does not seem to have any plans to change the official anthem. “Music is great, especially when played aloud to a game. We wanted to have fun and ‘Dheem Tharikita' is the outcome of that. It's the fan's anthem. It's also our way of giving back to a team that has given us so much, and to Dhoni, a true leader.”
BlaaZe and Paul Jacob recorded a 45-second clip on the phone and put up a promo of the song on YouTube just a day ago. The video notched up 400 hits within the next few hours.
So what does Chennai Super Kings have that other teams don't?
“The cup,” laughs BlaaZe. “And they are bringing it back home. Again.”
