My daughter showed me how viral Vilambara Idaiveli is: Kabilan Vairamuthu

CHENNAI: When the song Vilambara Idaiveli from Imaikka Nodigal released in 2018, least the team would have known that the number would go viral in five years’ time. The last few lines of the song penned by Kabilan Vairamuthu for the song are all over the place and is the most viral reel of that of a picture collage that was done over five lakh times till date, including prominent celebrities trying their hands at it. “I wasn’t aware until my daughter, Mettoori (named after Kabilan’s ancestral village Mettoori), who was scrolling through the reels and came up to me and said ‘I think this is one of your songs appa’. It was then I realised that the lines are from Vilambara Idaiveli. People from Africa, Spain and Italy have also recreated reels using the song. I am glad that Tamil has gone places again with the song,” says Kabilan.

He then did a brief research to find out that the song has been used in reels by over five lakh users. “I have little knowledge on how they choose such lines for reels. The last four lines of the song, Naan Unathey Adi Nee Enathaa? Theriyaamalae Naan Theigiren. Illai Endrey Sonnaal Indrey En Moga Paarvaya Mooduven, translates to, I have surrendered myself to you but I haven’t heard back from you yet. If you say no to me, I would stop seeing you from a romantic point of view and just be a good friend,” he says.

Kabilan travels back in time to days when the song was made. “It’s a beautiful romantic number. I penned the song and gave HipHop Adhi a couple of options for pallavi and charanam. I didn’t hear from Adhi for quite a few days and I started wondering. Only upon its release, I came to know that he has used every single lyric I had given him, including the options I had given him to make it a complete song. It was a pleasant surprise. He loved the lyrics and didn’t want to waste any of it,” laughs the lyricist-screenwriter.

Kabilan is overwhelmed to collaborate with Adhi again. “We have worked together for the upcoming film Alambana and looking forward to presenting you the album,” he tells us. The lyricist says that such trends are pure coincident. “Even people in Instagram office or Facebook office do not really understand the algorithm behind these things. When your creation becomes a sensation, you could be happy and work better. However, we don’t keep social media on the back of our minds when we work,” Kabilan clarifies.

His next big film is Indian 2. “I cannot spill the beans on Indian 2 right now. But watch out for a song that is all set to go viral from the film,” he concludes.