The latest addition to American superhero franchise Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is Ms Marvel which is the first MCU show to feature a Muslim protagonist in the lead. The story revolves around Kamala, played by Iman Vellani, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American from Jersey city. The show was released on June 6 on streaming platform Disney Plus hotstar.
Much to fans’ amusement, the show has plenty of references to South Asian culture, and Indian cinema in particular. Examples include scenes that had references about Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and actor Fawad Khan, and Farhan Akhtar being roped in as part of the cast. Tamil audiences who watched the show, took to social media to share that they were thrilled to see music composer AR Rahman’s song from superstar Rajinikanth’s 2014 Tamil movie Lingaa being played in the title track of Ms Marvel. The track was sung by Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam and late singer S.P. Balasubramaniam. The song ‘Oh Nanba’ plays in one of the clips from the show. Other songs such as Ritviz’s ‘Sage’, Raja Kumari’s ‘Goddess’, Angus Campbell and Kully Bhumra’s ‘Disco Gully’ have also been featured in the series.
The secret's out, the source of #KamalaKhan 's powers is #Rajinism #Thalaivar #Rajnikanth #OhNanba #MsMarvel https://t.co/dwUvlbwOjG
— Rohit Jain (@Im_Rohitjain) June 9, 2022
@rajinikanth Oh Nanba from #Lingaa playing during #msmarvel pilot title is just mind blowing pic.twitter.com/PYhr5BhgYi
— Sridhar (@Batwaynne) June 8, 2022
Linga film "Oh Nanba" song featured in Ms. Marvel title card. @arrahman musical brand #ARRahman @rajinikanth pic.twitter.com/SDXOjHCsph
— A.R.Rahman Fans (@ARRahmanFCtwt) June 8, 2022
That's Rajnikanth's Linga movie song, Oh Nanba, OMG, I'm flying now https://t.co/ZT4L61FTCK#MsMarvel #Rajnikanth pic.twitter.com/szCH3VRu3z
— Black-White is playing Scarlet Nexus (@ObiWansChild) June 8, 2022
#Rajinism in #MsMarvel
— Vijay Andrews (@vijayandrewsj) June 8, 2022
Off course it's #ARR song! But a not so popular one too & frm not so BB movie #Lingaa. Still made it to THE CHARACTER & TITLE INTRO of Marvel's Superhero SeriesAs a Rajini fan proud that #OhNanba song of Thalaivar being used on this#Thalaivar169 pic.twitter.com/hdf1vDjAYT
Hearing SPB belt out Oh Nanba for the title card of #MsMarvel is a day I thought would never come!
— Kishor LN (@movingimages_yt) June 8, 2022
Wow! The fact that the opening titles of @msmarvel featured "Oh Nanba" from "Lingaa" by @arrahman was nothing short of amazing! It felt so good to hear S.P. Bala's voice again, and that too in the MCU!
— MKNice&Quick (@_mknice) June 8, 2022
DUUUUDE I LOST IT. STARTED SCREAMING when I heard the beginning of 'Oh Nanba' from Rajnikanth's Lingaa movie in #MsMarvel when she crashed the car❤️❤️❤️ did not expected to hear a Tamil song in Marvel bruhhhh ❤️❤️❤️
— Prya (@Prijanga) June 8, 2022
Just started watching #MsMarvel , and its soo cool that ARR’s “Oh Nanba” from Rajini’s Lingaa was actually playing during the title card!!!!! Thalaivar now in the MCU it seems lol..
— A J (@aljohn96) June 8, 2022
Watch the song 'Oh Nanba' from Lingaa:
Speaking about the role to Variety, 19-year-old actor Iman Vellani said, "I'm honestly so privileged that Marvel trusts me to bring a character like Kamala to life. There's so much weight that comes with being the first of anything.” She also added that the advice she received from the creators was simply to be herself. "They're like, 'You don't go to work thinking that you're the first Muslim superhero; you just go to work and have fun'," Vellani recalled.
"That's what I keep telling myself: I don't really have to go out of my way and advocate for Muslim and Pakistani representation.This is one story of one girl. We cannot represent all two billion Muslims and South Asians, but this is definitely a good start,” she said.
(With agency inputs)