Kolaveri man to boost Sachin's energy

Take a celebrated cricketer, a familiar beverage he has endorsed for over 20 years, a social media phenomenon that rocked the country, and a flash mob — it has all the makings of another song going viral.

Sachin Tendulkar's energy has just received a big boost from Kolaveri di man Dhanush as GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) India unveiled a special anthem for its star ambassador for Boost.

The energy drink brand will launch it in a couple of days, said Mr G. Venkataramani, Head (South - Sales), GSKCH. Plans haven't been firmed up but the company is going to disseminate it the same way as

Kolaveri , he said, adding it will most likely go on YouTube first.

At a press conference to announce the anthem, Dhanush, who said he was a great Tendulkar fan, said he treated “it as a mass hero's introduction song” and Sachin as a friend. The song is in English but with very local flavour, much like

Kolaveri . It's not “all patriotic, emotional and senti(mental)”, he said. Dhanush has written the lyrics and “used certain trademark lines of mine”. Anirudh Ravichander, the composer of Kolaveri , arranged and orchestrated the music for this song. Others involved include actor Anushka Shetty, Eric Pillai who mixed the song, cameraman Velraj and choreographer Sharif. There is no overt branding for Boost, which features in some posters in the background.

The song, which starts off with the lines “Yo boys, let's sing song … cricket song … Sachin song” was filmed on a railway station set in Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad and features a flash mob, becoming increasingly popular in India. About 400 people worked on the video.

Dhanush, who hasn't yet met Sachin Tendulkar, said, “We should have done an anthem for Sachin long back. I'm glad I'm doing it, I don't know if he is.”

Kolaveri has garnered 41 million hits so far on YouTube. “It might not make sense but that's what seems to work these days,” quipped Dhanush, adding that it has acquired a life of its own — “very scary, actually” — but he's not going to question his blessings and just revel in his success.

Speaking to Business Line later, Dhanush said he has been besieged with offers for performances a la Kolaveri . “I'm being very choosy about them,” he said. He has firmed up only one so far, and will announce it mid-March. He hasn't endorsed any products before Kolaveri , but has signed some deals now, he said, adding that he couldn't reveal more.

Boost has 27 per cent share of the health food drinks market in the South, and 13.4 per cent all-India (a Rs 3,600-crore market), GSKCH's Mr Venkataramani said. Other drinks in this category include Bournvita, Complan and GSKCH's own Horlicks.

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