Every festive celebration has its own playlist, and Appadi Podu is sure to feature on it, whether in Chennai or Mumbai.
One of Tamil star Vijay’s best-known songs remains popular 13 years after it first emerged. The irresistibly catchy track, sung by Kay Kay and Anuradha Sriram and composed by Vidyasagar, is from Ghilli (2004), the Tamil remake of Mahesh Babu’s Telugu hit Okkadu (2003). Ghilli is the story of kabaddi player Velu (Vijay), who rescues Dhanalakshmi (Trisha) from being forcibly wed to lecherous strongman Muthupandi (Prakashraj). For the most part, Velu and Dhanalakshmi are on the run both from Muthupandi’s goons and Velu’s father, who is the officer assigned to nab Dhanalakshmi’s kidnapper.
Appadi Podu (loosely translated as Take that) occurs right after Velu and Dhanalakshmi have a brief conversation about parting ways. The fast-paced song seems out of place, given the mood, but it aptly captures Vijay’s remarkable footwork and the vim he brings to dance numbers. The energy in the vocals and the beats prove truly infectious. Not a single frame is static as Vijay and Trisha effortlessly leap about and shake this way and that.
The Tamil song is markedly different from the tune in the same situation in the Telugu movie. Hai Re Hai in Okkadu is a romantic number that doesn’t have the sheer get-up-and-dance energy of Appadi Podu.
A remixed version surfaced in the Akshay Kumar starrer Boss (2013), which was a remake of the Malayalam movie Pokkiri Raja (2010), but nothing beats the original. “Indha nada podhuma, innum konjam venuma,” Velu asks at the end of the song. Is this dance enough, or do you want more? Yes please, once more.
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