The Score Magazine February 2019 issue | Page 32

SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y Indian Numbers: International Blockbusters Thanks to the internet, the music of our country like our cuisine, wardrobe and language has attracted the world like a majestic sunrise! The internet is clocking the Indian content to a level where it takes good content to spread like a fatal virus overnight! Over the past decade, this has almost been the next big revolution in the music industry. But, Indian numbers had made international blockbusters and raced the international charts even when the digital floodgates were not open. Here are a few numbers that made it to the sensation list Jimikki Kammal from the movie Velipadinte Pusthakam rose beyond its ordinary heights when a Twitter user tweeted the viral song from India to Kimmel. To the Twitteratti's surprise Kimmel replied that he "loves" the song and the 'sleeper hit' track from India became a global sensation overnight. Next thing, netizens started posting videos of them dancing and dubsmashing the song on the internet and it was soon a part of the invisible global culturefest which made its presence felt without even being there! Why This Kolaveri Di gave a tough competition to even Lady Gaga by its phenomenally quirky lyrics and exuberance of Dhanush. The song touched the much coveted and highest views by an Indian song reaching 170 million hits in no time. The song also got adjudged the top song by CNN for the year. It ended the year being third on the international charts! Oruvan Oruvan Mudhalali turned superstar Rajnikanth into a global superstar and especially in japan where he became the dancing maharaja. The Tamil drama fetched millions in yen at the box office and the song did became a rage with the Japanese folks. Tunak Tunak Tun has grown old like old wines. From Canada, to Germany and Korea to China and Australia this 1998 track and its bhangra beats connected multiple cultures in one thread besides introducing the North Indian cultures in its sheer flamboyance. Recently Jackie Chan twerked and swayed to the beats of Daler in the 17th Shanghai Film Festival! I Am a Disco Dancer another iconic erstwhile chartbuster has never faded from the international arena. At the time when there was no internet and ease of connectivity. The dance halls at the Russian summer resorts blared the dance number to an 30 The Score Magazine highonscore.com extent that for most Russians, the popularity of Mithun surpassed even that of Amitabh. Mundian To Bach Ke became the international smash hit at the top 20 in over 12 countries. Besides selling off 10 million copies of the hip hop bazooka worldwide. The NRI communities lapped on to the song like an anthem in a short span of time. It aced the race of ranking one in Italy, Belgium, and other countries. In Germany, it sold over 100,000 units in two days! It achieved the feat of holding the second spot in Germany for the longest. Awara Hu is perhaps the most celebrated and penchanting success of Indian music by far. The Raj Kapoor chartbuster became an instant hit at the time when celluloid as a medium was being developed and synapsed with a lot of cross cultural interferences. The Russians even had a dubbed version of the movie being premiered and sold out beyond the gut. The movie like the song hooked on the Russians like a frenzy. Legend has it that, Raj Kapoor's car was lifted up and carried with raj Kapoor inside by the fans of his films. They carried him all the way from the theater on which the premier was held that night in Moscow. The banquets of Siberia and other cities of Russia used to beam gleefully with this song from the movie. It is only justice that India as a culture has still been easily blended into other hemispheres of the world without a speck.