Kolaveri has put kitsch on an exceptional pedestal. Amidst the faceless fans for Kolaveri are some biggies like Salman Rushdie, Amitabh Bachchan and A R Rahman, who were moved to tweets by the ‘soup song’. Welcome to the north-south crossovers redux.

Crossover songs are not new in India. From Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar to today’s breed of playback singers, many have immortalized several such numbers. Tamil cinema has its own share of crossover repertoire. Why this Kolaveri Di, (Why this murderous rage, girl) nonetheless, has had unprecedented popularity, becoming an anthem of sorts.

What is a soup song? Well that’s the most-googled-for phrase these days. It’s a song for boys who are in a soup – ditched by their girlfriends.

Be it Sharad Pawar slapgate or Virender Sehwag’s formidable double century at Indore, the song and lyrics have become the ideal musical score or punch dialogue. Why this Kolaveri Di has led to parodies in most Indian languages. With over 12 million hits of the YouTube promo video of this song, recorded for the film ‘3’ and released in November 2011, Kolaveri has occupied every possible sphere in its viral avatar.

Bollywood has time and again proven its love for crossover numbers, right from the late forties with Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday (Shehnai) to the fifties with Eena Meena Deekha (Aasha) and MAD Mad, Mad Maane Paagal (Dilli Ka Thug). Recently, Chammak Challo from Ra One, yet again, was an amalgam of kitschy lyrics and fast beats.

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