It is but rarely that a global media conglomerate turns its gaze at a creative work from the deep global south. But, after setting the YouTube on fire with over 50 million views, is making a behemoth such as News Corp to sit up and take note of the song and its accompanying dance.
Possibly after American TV host Jimmy Kimmel tweeting about the song that rhymes with his name, Rupert Murdoch company News Corp, through its social media news agency Storyful, has bought the rights of the video in which a group of teachers from the Kochi-based Indian School of Commerce dance to the song. A couple of days ago, the BBC had reported about the song that had gone viral on the Internet, using the visuals from the video, with the anchor imitating the steps of the dancers.
Shaan Rahman, who composed the song for the Mohanlal-starrer Velipadinte Pusthakam , feels it is probably the raw, folksy elements of the song that has helped it transcend the barriers of language. “I ensured that the singing by Vineeth Sreenivasan and Renjith Unni as well as the musical instruments were all raw,” he told The Hindu . “When I came to know of the BBC’s report, I was greatly surprised. When you compose a song in a language that is spoken by only about 33 million people, you don’t expect it to reach out to a global audience or even outside Kerala.” Part of the credit for the song’s meteoric rise on the popularity chart should go to Mithun Mangaly, a brand development manager at the ISC, who got two faculty members, Sheril G. Kadavan and Anna George, choreograph a piece based on the song and posted it on YouTube.
Sheril became an overnight star and the video a massive hit, with well over 16 million views in a little over three weeks; the original video has crossed 21 million.
“When I got a message from Storyful some 10 days ago, I didn’t think it was real,” Mithun told The Hindu . “We have signed the deal. Whatever money we make will go towards charity.”
