Spoof'ing it up

‘Pythagoras now haunts my dreams, we learn so much more from Facebook memes.’ This is just one of the goofy lines from the rib-tickling parody of The Chainsmokers’ hit song Closer, which has gone viral. Sung by comedian Sanjay Manaktala and entrepreneur and author Varun Agarwal, the video focuses on the exam season and has left students across India in splits.

Talking about the song, Varun says, “The video is by our channel The Enthu Cutlets. I actually chose Closer because I don’t like the song! I also don’t like exams, so we decided to combine the two things. I roped in a few writers and got Sam Mohan to shoot the video and we did the whole shoot in two days. We edited it in one day and the entire video was ready in five days.”

Throwing light on this amusing rendition of Closer, Sanjay says, “The song is meant to have kids enjoy the experience, laugh at situations while addressing a few random issues with modern schooling (eg. Big Boss controls the nation, so why all this education?) We know school is important, but we wanted to start a conversation about some topics.” While Sanjay reveals that this isn’t the first time he’s lending his voice to a track, Varun confesses that it was auto tune that made him sound good! Considering his online popularity, Varun decided to release the video on his Facebook page. In three days, the parody garnered 30,000 likes, 10,000 shares and 9,000 comments. “For any video to go viral, the distribution is important. Our song received a whopping 6 lakh views on FB. It also has more engagement than other videos,” says Varun, adding, “The best response was when some students downloaded it and decided to sing it in school assembly.”
Adds Sanjay, “With Varun, you can always expect a big response. I got some nice messages and e-mails. People said it helped them get back to studying, was a nice break, or gave them a good laugh.” Ask the twosome about future plans and Sanjay reveals that he intends to start doing public shows again in March. “I’m in California till Valentine’s Day, so I can avoid that whole thing in flight! I’m also wrapping up my book — it’s about the IT industry and the guys/girls in it.  I’m also shooting a few stand-up clips and have corporate shows.”

As for Varun, he’s busy working on his second book which will be out this year. “We’re also going to make videos and maybe post two a month. We’re trying to get more artistes, actors and writers to collaborate with.”