The Song and its Singer

'Kolaveri' is an incredibly joyous song. It oozes a sort of reckless energy that has now come to represent the Indian youth of the noughties. It may not be the original idea. The cheeky practice of singing Tamil songs in English is a favourite pass time of Chennaites for a long time. We used sing like this:

Whattu Muni amma your eyes full of mascara,

who kept the mascara it's me kept the mascara

you go in the frontu and come in the backu.

...

Taking bath in kuttralamu heat-u won't subsidu x 2

Husbandu body heatu kannamma

you come here-u jilujilukking ponnamma

And here's another sample:

Come... Come... Springu...

Fragrance giving smellu,

Street full of festival

Lights throwing festival

Come with me singing the joooysu...

And so on. Now try and guess the second song if you can!*

What Dhanush has done is to capitalise this Chennai underground and made it mainstream. In this way, it's something like what Nirvana did. Grunge was looked down upon until Nirvana came and made this genre mainstream! The first ever review of a band of this genre read, 'Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure s**t!' The word 'grunge' actually means grime and dirt. Today, listening to Nirvana is considered as a mark of refined music taste! As for 'kolaveri', the lyrics may not fit Javed Akhtar's Lucknowi sensibilities but they have the quality of pure garage jamming. Many Grateful Dead's greatest songs are nothing but free form jamming and psychedelic live sessions which are actually more popular than their orchestrated studio albums. Some of these live sessions don't have any clear lyrics, leave alone meaningful ones. At least 'Kolaveri' has a cohesive theme and words. Well, I believe Dhanush wasn't on heroine like the Dead were but that's another matter!

On its own merit, 'kolaveri' has captured the imagination of the entire nation and it would not have happened if it didn't have any deeper resonance. Name any one song that you can call utterly dull and 'non-creative' that has become such a rage!

Dhanush has proven his creative musical abilities not just with 'Kolaveri' but with the two songs from 'Mayakkam Enna' as well. Written and sung by him agian, 'Oda Oda' and 'Kadhal En Kadhal' clearly declare a 'Dhanush sound' which is unique and original. His songs, like his dances, are delivered with reckless creative abandon. If he had been born in Seattle and if he was on crack, he would have been called Kurt Cobain!

Now, onto his acting abilities: he is one of the finest actors to emerge from this generation. His lack of 'mass-hero' image has actually helped him to some extent but then that's not the only saving factor. From Thulluvatho Ilamai days he has consistently demonstrated his energetic and absorbed performances. He made us sympathise with him in Thulluvatho Ilamai, terrified us in Kadhal Kondein and made us laugh out loud in Thiruda Thirudi. After some deviation, where he burnt his fingers trying to be 'Vijay', he returned to his forte with Pollathavan. Watch the scene where he meets the villain in the hospital after his father is attacked – pause the scene and stare at his eyes. That's one of the most powerful performances in the recent times.

Aadukalam is an honest, albeit misplaced, adventure for Vetrimaaran but Dhanush lapped up the opportunity completely to immerse into the skin of the character. From the Madurai accent to his obeisance to Pettaikkaran to his rustic anger vent on his mother and girlfriend, Dhanush demonstrated something we have not seen for a long time in Tamil cinema. Not Vikram's one-dimensional show in Pithamagan, not Priyanka Chopra's maudlin act in Fashion, but if anyone truly deserves the national award in the recent years, it is him. He does not flaunt six-pack like Suriya, does not bash up baddies like Vijay. Finally, he does not have a sophisticated look that would please the Gautam Menon fans. And thank god for that.

*The second song is 'Vaa Vaa Vasanthame' from Puthukkavithai. Thanks to Barnabas Chandran for the Tanglish songs.