Mumbai: Remember the peppy Marathi song 'Sonu Tula Mazyawar Bharosa Naay Ka' (Sonu, don’t you trust me)? Three years after the song and its multiple versions in possibly every Indian language went viral across the country, its singer and composer Ajay Kshirsagar has now taken on, the deadly Coronavirus 'musically' by launching a new song titled "Chala Nigha Corona Appa",(meaning: Get lost big brother corona).
The song that goes: 'Saarya jagala dilaay dhappa ra...lay danger corona appa,' (Meaning: Dangerous big brother corona, you have shaken up the entire world) has already hit over 3000 views on youtube in less than a week.
“I feel great that the 'Sonu' song has gained popularity outside Maharashtra too. Hence this time I decided to dedicate a song to the deadly coronavirus that has attacked the world,” says Ajay.
He adds, “If people using my song give me credit, then everybody will know about me. It may give me the chance to become a playback singer in Marathi and Hindi films.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Ajay Kshirsagar, composer and singer of the original Sonu song, claims that while many people were inspired by his composition and made different versions, none gave him credit. In January 2017, when Ajay uploaded his new composition, little did he know that the song would go viral on social media. Since the time it was uploaded on YouTube, the original version of the Sonu song has recorded over 76 million views in three years.
Inspired by the song, many Mumbaikars — including the country’s ‘first’ transgender band, students of Mumbai university, and famously, RJ Malishka Mendonsa — created their own versions of it to highlight various issues. Interestingly, after Mendonsa’s song about potholes and poor roads riled up the BMC, the ‘reply’ to it composed by some Shiv Sainiks was also based on the Sonu song.
When asked who the ‘Sonu’ in the song is, Ajay says it is his wife’s name for him. The woman singer in the original song is none other than Ajay’s wife, Bhagyashali Kshirsagar (27).
“Sonu in the song was inspired by my wife calling me Sonu. I am very happy that the song has become so popular among youngsters. That even three years after it was composed, college students invite me to their annual /cultural festivals in Solapur, Pune etc,” says Ajay.
The original video on YouTube, which also credits Chadan Kamble for the music, has poor production quality, and many of the parodies sound more sophisticated.
‘Sonu’ is one of the 19 songs composed and posted on YouTube by Ajay. He says while all his songs have been popular in rural Maharashtra, this is the first time that one went viral across the country.
The young composer says that people’s failure to give credit has meant that only the song, and not the artist, became popular.
However this time Kshirsgar says his song on coronavirus will be even more popular than the Sonu song. The song already has a remixed version by local DJ from Solapur known as DJ Pratik PRK.
Originally from Kurudwadi village in Solapur district, Ajay records all his song at a sound studio in Pune owned by his father-in-law. Ajay has been writing and composing songs since he was 15, he says, and this isn’t the only time “something I composed has gone viral”. His songs 'Mee Tujha Parsha, Tu Majhi Archi', Chingi la mhanali Sheela, Navra DJch hava mala (Sheela tells Chingi, she would only marry a DJ) are a craze in rural Solapur, Pune region. His song Sonsarachi Wadda became a craze in rural Maharashtra and has over 1.4 million views.
“We often make songs that appeal to college students and youngsters. Their tune and words are catchy and trendy to gain the attention of youngsters across the state. We observe youngsters around us — this is what inspires Ajay to write and compose the songs,” says Bhagyashali, Kshirsagar's wife.
