Dhanush's Sachin anthem for Boost: The most crappy tribute ever!

OK; now we have the second ‘anthem’ on Youtube. Wonder why things are called anthems in the first place? Anyway, we have two of them now. One was the ‘Love’ anthem, now we have the ‘Sachin’ anthem.  It is puzzling to think why the second one was called an anthem; maybe because the first one was; one cannot really find any other reason. Speaking of which, the second one has (as on 09.02.2012) clocked nearly half a million hits on Youtube within 24 hours of being uploaded. Wow, what a wonderful achievement considering the fact that there has been news in every conceivable media form that Dhanush and Boost were joining hands to make an official anthem on Sachin Tendulkar. One just cannot wait to hear someone claim that the song is a superhit because it has managed such ‘huge’ numbers within such a short time. I can think of a better strategy to make hits; release song videos on a giant screen on Marina beach on Kaanum Pongal day and claim that all the people came there to watch you. Yes, it will be an overnight sensation; then upload the video of the crowd on Youtube and call it a flashmob; you get another million hits.

India is a country which allows freedom of expression (unless you are Salman Rushdie) and therefore anyone is free to shoot song videos, call them anthems (even if they don’t even remotely resemble what should be an anthem) and upload them on Youtube with loads of publicity; all to create a hit. But, what pains most is when people use the name of a national icon to piggyback their songs and videos into popularity. The quality of the video is immaterial; we have seen and hear worse crap, but why does this have to be done in the name of Sachin Tendulkar.

Dhanush goes ‘Comeu Mama, Hitu Mama, Superu Mama’; wonder who he is referring to as ‘Mama’.  It is all fine to say ‘Ok Mama ready’ in a ‘soup song’, but what kind of a tribute are you trying to offer anyone if you address them as ‘Mama’ and ‘Machan’; thankfully he stopped short of using the word ‘Mappillai’. By the songs own admission, Sachin is the pride of the country. Now, we did not need Dhanush or Boost to tell us that; but how can you call someone pride of the nation and use ‘Mama’ in almost every sentence of a song that you would call a tribute.

Paying tributes is a serious business that must be done with a sense of aesthetics and understanding of a person’s achievement. This ‘anthem’ could easily be mistaken for a ‘kuthu’ song in any Tamil movie. How on earth did anyone come up with an idea of a tribute to Sachin Tendulkar with a random jig on a railway station platform?

There are scores of songs in many Tamil movies that have used the word ‘Sachin’ time and again just to connect to the masses. This ‘anthem’ is nothing better than any of those songs; only it does not feature in a movie. In fact, this so called tribute to Sachin Tendulkar is so far off its mark that it is difficult to find ways to criticise it; one can only fret and fume at the fact that a national icon’s name has been used so cleverly and easily to create a sensation. For those who think that the song was a sincere attempt at a tribute; just watch the beginning – ‘Yo Boys; I am singing song, Cricket Song’; strangely reminiscent of something isn’t it. This whole affair seems to be more about Dhanush and his signature dance moves and throaty voice rather than about Sachin Tendulkar.

When making a tribute to a man who has played the gentleman’s game with utmost perfection, discipline, commitment and honesty; scaled peaks that no one else in the world has even done before; a tribute to him needs to be classy and well designed; not a brash ‘kuthu’ song which has arms and legs flailing in all directions.

All through December and January it was a pride to watch thousands of Australians stand up and applaud to Sachin as he walked out to bat; never mind the results of the series. To think of those moments and to watch this farce of a tribute is painful; we Indians are becoming experts at showing ourselves in poor light. A world class player deserved a world class tribute; or better still, no tribute at all; he has got enough accolades from all across the world.

This anthem is nothing but a very sad attempt to create another Youtube sensation riding on Sachin’s popularity; a marketing gimmick for Boost and a terribly bad experience for all true Sachin fans. Had this been in a movie; it would not have mattered much; but this is an official tribute and it hurts so much for the same reason. One is only thankful that Boost with its 20 year relationship with Sachin Tendulkar did not coax him to make an appearance in this apology of a tribute. I also hope that they don’t somehow get him to say that he is immensely moved by this gesture. That would be the end of sanity; millions of others would start creating their own anthems. Let sanity prevail; leave Sachin alone; and to the creators of this so called ‘Sachin anthem’ there is but one thing to ask “Why this Kolaveri?” You got your freak hit, be happy, celebrate, why meddle with a legend’s name.