Break up song? In Tamil? For most people, the first track that comes to mind because of its raging success is Dhanush’s soupy Kolaveri Di. Almost in the same vein, but with a slightly ‘spiritual’ approach is the Prayer Song from soon-to-be released Tamil flick Idharkuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara. Says Siddharth Vipin, who composed the song, “When most people pen break up lyrics, it’s usually shouting at the girl and this can offend a lot of people which we didn’t want to do...” Instead he adds coyly, “We decided to do just the opposite — pray for her.” The song that was released just a week ago is already on its way to crossing seven lakh views and is trending big time on the web with #iDhaaba, which is an abbreviated version of the film’s title, Idharkuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara. City Express talks to Sid Vipin about how the song came about and his prayers for the future.
Praying for bad things to happen to your girlfriend. Did most of the lyrics come from personal experience?
Madhan Karky penned the lyrics for the song, which was put together after we all got together and discussed various situations that could be included, like praying for a virus on her laptop or the girl forgetting her ATM pin number... so I guess most of itcame from personal experience. But we did think of some extreme ideas as well that we chose to leave out because they were too drastic — like praying for her plane to getting hijacked!
Weren’t you worried that the word ‘prayer’ being connoted this way would offend people?
We made it a point not to use any actual prayers in any part of the song. But keeping with the mood and the setting of a prayer, there is a tambura in the background for a temple feel.
How did folks on the iDhaaba team respond to the idea?
Everyone was very excited when they heard about it. And just to have some fun when I called Naresh Iyer to sing it, I told him that I wanted him to sing a devotional song for me...So he showed up at the studio all ready with a vibuti on his forehead. (Laughs)
If the situation were reversed and it was a prayer song for you — give me three well intended ‘prayers’ you wouldn’t wish on any man?
Waiting for a long long time for my girlfriend (hypothetically) to finish her make up, stopping at multiple restrooms for her while on a long trip and having a girlfriend who is a stickler for plans and can’t live in the moment.
You said that you got a lot of interesting responses from women to this song. Can you share some of them with us?
Actually there were a couple of girls who tweeted Madhan Karky with lyrics to a rebuttal song of their own. It was lots of fun stuff like “when it’s the last over of a cricket match, the electricity should go off and TASMACs should be closed permanently...” I’m planning to release a girl’s version of this song, separate from the movie, if I get some really good lyrics sent to me. I’ll even let the girl with the best prayers get behind the mic and record it.