The songs of Pushpa: The Rise have created a social media storm. We find out what makes them click

Sheetal

Released on December 17, 2021, the film Pushpa: The Rise-Part 1 managed to create quite a stir with not only its storyline but also the music. With the dubbed version in Hindi releasing later, the popularity quotient went a notch higher. While the original Telugu film has five songs, among them Srivalli (286 million), sung by Javed Ali, and Oo Antava… Oo Oo Antava (189 million views), by Indravathi Chauhan, are the most popular.

Being popular

One cannot pinpoint one single factor that made this film and songs such a success. Aditya Music, the channel that released the Telugu songs, deserves the credit of the initial popularity. Then came the larger-than-life character of Pushpa Raj, played by Allu Arjun, and the writers as well as directors. Also, the makers released four versions of each song (five in total) in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam as well. Many freelance content-makers devised a new YouTube video trend where they reviewed all five versions of a particular song and voted for the language it was best sung in.

Number game

T-Series had the rights of the Hindi version of the songs, which has much more subscribers than Aditya Music and yet Srivalli (Hindi) garnered 286 million views, while the Telugu version, sung by Sid Sriram, has close to 146 million. On the other hand, for Oo Antava, it’s vice versa. The song’s Hindi rendition Oo Bolega…Oo Oo Bolega (184 million) by Kanika Kapoor is trailing behind the original Telugu song.

The other three songs also struck a chord. In the decreasing order of popularity, Saami Saami, sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, has 155 million views in Hindi and 129 million views in Telugu, Daakko Daakko Meka has 37 million views and Jaago Jaago Bakre in Hindi has 21 million views. Eyy Bidda Idhi Naa Adda has 58 million views and Eyy Bidda Ye Mera Adda in Hindi has 42 million views.

Different field

The song has moved beyond borders too and social media is abuzz. If it was cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s celebration after taking a wicket during the recent India-Sri Lanka series, then Australian cricketer David Warner’s love Allu Arjun post also went viral. Warner’s daughters too danced on Saami Saami, to which Allu Arjun commented ‘sooo cuteee’ with heart emojis. Many other cricketers, be it West Indies player Dwayne Bravo or Suresh Raina, also jumped on to the bandwagon. 

Voice behind Srivalli

Singer Javed Ali had previously worked with music composer Devi Sri Prasad (DSP), who has given music for Pushpa. The singer is overwhelmed with the love Srivalli has received. He says, “I am grateful to DSP for considering me to sing the Hindi version of Srivalli. Before Pushpa, I had sung Nee Kallu Neeli in Telugu film Uppena. I heard the Telugu version, but did not try to copy. I started from a scratch and sung in very different manner. For the future too, I would like to retain this texture of my voice. The best feedback was others are also listening to the Hindi version.” — Javed Ali, singer

Catchy Lyrics

The Pushpa wave got a boost from its songs and the choreography. Apart from composer and singers’ efforts, the catchy lyrics by Chandrabose are commendable. While I never heard the Telugu original of Srivalli because Javed sang it so well, it’s the opposite for Oo Antava. The Telugu-original reminded me of another successful Sri Lankan song, Manike Mage Hithe, which had more listeners of the original than many covers and languages it was sung in. — Shibani Kashyap, singer

Social eye

I couldn’t stop but try this myself. @alluarjunonline what an incredible performance in #pushpa brother. Wishing you lots of success! — Suresh Raina, cricketer

Blown away by this song and film. The composition is out of the world… What a performance. — Harrdy Sandhu, singer

Our very own Pushpa nani @alluarjunonline — Hardik Pandya, cricketer

I promised I’d try & sing in Telugu so this had to be done…Such an EPIC song. — Sophie Choudry, actress

}Going with the trend!! @davidwarner31 @sureshraina3 how did I do!! — DJ Bravo, cricketer

Current favorite song #MondayFunday. — Madhuri Dixit Nene, actress