Dhanush Raja's Tamil-language love song becomes game-changing viral sensation in India MUSIC HAPPENING NOW POP A nonsensical

Tamil-language song containing a baffling mix of local dialect and broken English has become a huge crossover hit in India's fast-changing music market. And now the Sony Music India single is starting to make noise internationally. The insanely catchy midtempo track, titled "Why This Kolaveri Di," features the vocals of Tamil film star Dhanush Raja and is the first single from the soundtrack to the Tamil-language film "Three," which also stars Raja. Since the song's official YouTube video premiere on Nov. 16, the clip has quickly become the most searched-for video among India's billion-strong population. The video counts more than 30 million views on YouTube and has sold more than 500,000 mobile downloads, according to Sony Music India.Ringback sales--an immensely popular format in India-stand at 3 million, while streaming services have racked up an additional 3 million plays, according to the label. Radio support has also exceeded expectations. Composed and produced by 21-year-old Anirudh Ravichander, "Why This Kolaveri Di" has been played on more than 130 Pan-India radio stations, as well as being the No. 1 mostplayed song across the top five FM radio networks in India--such as Radio Mirchi, Big FM and Red FM--for five consecutive weeks. The track's breakout success is all the more remarkable because of its Tamil background. Spoken by just a small percentage of India's population, Tamil-language music and films tend to attract a minority audience compared with the majority Hindi-speaking Bollywood movies and soundtracks that dominate the subcontinent's entertainment industries. Although the lyrics to "Why This Kolaveri Di" are predominantly sung in English, its use of Tamil phrases and such words as "kolaveri," roughly translated as "murderous rage," makes it a unique contender for a crossover hit, says Shridhar Subramaniam, Sony Music Entertainment president for India and the Middle East. "In India we make music in 14 different languages," Subramaniam says. "So this is like if you envision all of continental Europe as being one country, then all the radio stations playing a song from Poland and it being the No. 1 most-played song across every market." Subramaniam calls "Kolaveri" a "genre-bending track that crosses language boundaries" and credits its sales to an aggressive marketing campaign utilizing Sony Music India's million-strong Face-book and Twitter communities, plus Raja's loyal online fan base. The full "Three" soundtrack, released Dec. 22, has tallied 20,000 in physical sales, according to Sony Music India. The film will arrive Jan. 27. "Kolaveri" has also benefited from its unorthodox stripped-down video. Unlike most Indian cinema soundtrack videos, which typically feature lavish costumes and exotic locations, the visuals for "Kolaveri" simply consist of footage of Raja and Ravichander performing the track in the studio with the lyrics displayed in accompanying subtitles. "The first thing that we did is move it from the context of the film and almost pitch it like it's a non-film song," Subramaniam says. Official remix versions of "Kolaveri," including a dubstep-flavored remix by Singam and a U.K. Bhangra mix by Scotland-based production duo Tigerstyle, have since been released alongside dozens of unofficial remixes and cover versions. In the United Kingdom, the BBC Asian Network and BBC London Radio have given the track spot plays. In the United States, Hum Desi Radio and Apna Radio are among its early adopters, according to Sony Music India, which credits the "Kolaveri" campaign with instigating a sea change in how music is promoted in India. "Regional-language cinema and music always played the role of a poor cousin to the bigger and more popular Bollywood industry," Subramaniam says. "This product has shown that some of the smaller languages can have global scale and appeal." Growing buzz: DHANUSH RAJA ~~~~~~~~ By RICHARD SMIRKE