Humour given a tune

It’s funny how nighttime prowls on YouTube lead to the best of earworms. And having Aviyal stuck in our heads isn’t such a bad thing after all! It is the promotional video for the omnibus of short films of the same name by six directors — Alphonse Puthren, Shameer Sultan, Mohit Mehra, Lokesh Kanagaraj, Guru Smaran, and Karthik Subbaraj.

Featuring the voice of Antony Dassan, lyrics by C. Mani Amuthavan and Charukesh Sekar, composition by musician Raghu Dixit, and actors like Ashok Selvan, Bobby Simha and Karunakaran (who are also in the short film) — it’s no wonder that the video has garnered 9,316 views since its release on February 17!

“Karthik Subbaraj asked me to compose a minute-long jingle for the short film, and the team behind Aviyal then asked me to expand it into a full-length song. And that’s how it started!” says Raghu Dixit, who is also composing music for Vallavanukkum Vallavan. He adds that the idea was to connect the music to the short — different stories connected by a common thread of humour.

The quirky comedy and rhythm grows on you. “We believe that short films should reach a bigger audience and this was a way to encourage the trend in the South,” says Rajiv Rajaram, the founder of Put Chutney Music, who created the video.

It was a new experience for the actors, including Bobby Simha. “Shooting the video was a lot of fun because we mingled with each other,” he says. On whether he will act in more music videos — “If the content demands our participation, then we will do it. This time, it made sense to have all the actors together,” he asserts in conclusion.