1633571955.gif)
Oscar award winner and internationally-renowned music composer A R Rahman might have cast his magic on millions of fans across the world, but he has certainly failed to impress the people of Telangana with his latest song on Bathukamma festival, the women-centric floral festival of Telangana.
Rahman, teamed up with Tamil and Mayalayam director Gautham Vasudev Menon, to produce a video song for Bathukamma festival for Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural wing of Telangana Rashtra Samithi led by MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha.
The song, which was released at the residence of Kavitha on Tuesday evening on the eve of Bathukamma festival beginning on Wednesday, was uploaded on YouTube. Since the song was composed by famous music composer Rahman, it was eagerly awaited by the people.
The song was, no doubt, a classic piece of music and was excellently picturised by Gautam Menon, but it failed to connect with the Telangana audience. The song, written by Telangana lyricist Mittapalli Surender, lacks the Telangana folk touch and has no local slang.
Uthara Unnikrishnan, a Tamil singer who sang the song, could not match the voice of the local Telanganites and failed to impress them. The song was choreographed by National Award winner Brinda, but it looked completely out of the place for Telangana.
The song was picturised at Bhoodan Pochampalli on the outskirts of Hyderabad for four days, but it looked completely artificial.
“It appears like a celebration in a Tamil Brahmin family, rather than a community festival in a Telangana village,” said a Telangana poet.
“If any outsider watches this video song on YouTube, there is every danger that this is how Bathukamma is celebrated in Telangana. In fact, Bathukamma is not about a song and dance; it reflects the life of Telangana and the family bonding in the villages. This is completely missing in the song,” another analyst said.
Ever since it was launched on YouTube on Tuesday evening, there has been heavy trolling on the social media about the song.
“It is unfortunate that Kavitha, who stood as a brand ambassador for Bathukamma, spoiled her image completely with this song, despite spending Rs 3 crore on the same,” a Telangana leader said.
