From Chennai floods to Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, movie releases to cricket matches, protests to the coronavirus pandemic, Tamil meme pages have been discussing a range of topics through memes. While some meme trends like ‘Dupatta Podunga Doli’ have been problematic, many trends have acted as a medium to celebrate people’s love for cinema and music. The latest addition to the long list is the ‘Vibe Music’ meme trend.
With stellar composers like AR Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Anirudh, GV Prakash, Harris Jayaraj, Santhosh Narayanan and Vijay Anthony, among others, producing hit tracks, Tamil cinema has carved a special place for itself in the Indian film industry and these composers have become household names. Many hit numbers are well-received by audiences amidst much fanfare on social media. More often than not, their music is credited for mesmerising listeners and putting them into a trance.
The Tamil vibe music trend, which is flooding our Instagram feeds, was born from the idea of taking this phrase quite literally and picturising what listeners being sent into a trance would look like. These memes depict how your favourite music composers need not have magical powers to make you fly or jump with joy, but still manage to do so, for they have their compositions to accomplish that.
If composer AR Rahman’s song hooks never fail to impress you, these memes might be your cup of tea. In one of the memes, we see a clip from Madhurey where Vadivelu, who is observing Mouna Vratham (silence fasting), shuts down the power supply in his house while repairing the TV. Vijay, who is unaware of the same, turns on the electricity switch causing a mini explosion. Poor Vadivelu ends up walking out with a charred face.
In the vibe music version of this clip, it is not Vijay but AR Rahman who causes the ‘blast’ with the lines Nagira Nagira from popular romantic track ‘Kadhal Sadugudu’. And it is not Vadivelu, but listeners ending up with a charred face. Except here, they are so positively overwhelmed by the song that they start floating in an interdimensional space filled with hearts upon hearing the chorus lines from the track.
It is quite common to remark how a song can be a veritable nectar to the ears. It would be right to presume that the meme maker behind this video heard the expression and decided to promptly find a comedy clip to visualise this scenario. Instead of Goundamani pouring boiling hot oil into Senthil’s ears, we see AR Rahman blessing our ears with the honeyed vocals of ‘Sahana Pookal’ from Rajinikanth starrer Sivaji.
In yet another meme, AR Rahman hits the audience with the harmonious background music of ‘Pudhu Vellai Mazhai’ from Roja.
Similar templates have been used to show how composer Yuvan Shankar Raja too never fails to “hit” the right chords.
Indians are popularly known for having a home-made remedy handy for almost any kind of health hazard; Tamilians are known for prescribing good old Ilaiyaraaja songs as a cure to put one’s mind at ease. Originally shot as a satirical clip by Tamil YouTube channel Paridhabangal to take a dig at godmen claiming to have divine healing powers; the meme features Ilaiyaraaja as an angel curing restless listeners and calming them down with his soulful tracks.
As opposed to painful moments from cinema being turned into memes, this video features characters from Vadivelu’s comedy scenes from the film Aanai, being moved by KJ Yesudas’s celestial voice in ‘Kanne Kalaimane’. Set to tune by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja, not only does the melancholic ‘Kannae Kalaimanae’ remain etched in the hearts of music fanatics, it is popular to the date since it was the last song penned by lyricist Kannadasan and was reportedly written by him under five minutes.
Created in the same vein as the previous memes, we find a video where Kamal Haasan’s heartwarming track ‘Neela Vaanam’ plays in the background, while characters from Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara film are immersed in the song in a trance-like state.
An important scene from Mozhi where Prithviraj forces MS Bhaskar to cry is used in another meme to draw parallels between Haris Jayaraj creating soul-stirring compositions like ‘Venmathi’ from Minnale.
The creator of this meme, perhaps a fan of composer GV Prakash, reaffirms how GV Prakash’s ability to teleport listeners to a different world or era can simply not be questioned or undermined. The meme features GVP in the place of late comedian Vivek in a comedy sequence from Uthama Puthiran where he is heard saying, “Did you know that if I decide to, I can create a new world?” This is followed by lines from ‘Pirai Thedum’ sung by GV Prakash and his wife, singer Saindhavi. Marking Dhanush’s first song as a lyricist, the sombre track is based on the emotional. turmoil the female lead goes through as she helps the hero in his pursuit of purpose.
Some songs cause an emotional outpour and some fill your heart with warmth. GV Prakash ‘Yaathe Yaathe’ is the kind of song that motivates people to break into dance and that is precisely what happens in this meme. It depicts how even late actor Sivaji Ganesan wouldn’t have been able to resist grooving to the song.
Name the metaphor popularly used to heap praises about music and you are likely to find a ‘vibe music’ meme that has brought the metaphor to life by visualising it. In one such video, Pradeep Kumar’s music turns into the drug listeners cannot live without.
As is the case with any other meme trend related to cinema, fan wars are inevitable. In what could be called a faceoff, we find Haris Jayaraj soothing fans with songs like ‘Manjal Veyil’, ‘Venmathi’, ‘Vaarayo Vaarayo’ and ‘Karu Karu Vizhigalaal’, while Hip Hop Aadhi is bashed for his song ‘Sivakumar Pondati’.
However, in another meme, the meme creator counters ‘Aadhi na haters’, by showing how his discography includes well-liked romantic numbers such as ‘Kadhale Kadhale’ from Indru Netru Naalai.
Why limit oneself to clips from Tamil movies, while meme creators can draw inspiration from international films, or even video games. From Spiderman ‘vibing’ to the lines Thamarai Ilai Neer Neethana to Benedict Cumberbatch getting lost listening to Ayan’s ‘Pala Palakura Pagala Nee’, a number of Crossover memes have also come out of this trend. Our favourite, however, is the edit that suggests that Tesla’s Elon Musk draws inspiration from ‘Ovvoru Pookalume’ song from Autograph.
It was only a matter of time before creators of vibe music memes were trolled by their fellow memers for turning heart wrenching accident clips in movies into a meme trend paying tribute to their favourite songs, singers and composers. These memes take a dig at editors and creators of vibe music videos.
What would happen when all these brilliant composers join forces? Tamil cinema is yet to witness one such musical spectacle but vibe music memers are a step ahead, using clips of fight sequences from Master and Thuppaki where planned attacks take place. In the vibe music version, these music composers come together to “shoot” or “attack” their fans with their compositions. We suppose it could be called ‘Death by music’.