The most popular Indian actor in Brazil

I was wasting my time in Orkut to see if there’s someone who I can argue with. I was visiting a Tamil forum and found someone from Brazil interested in knowing about an Indian song that’s fast becoming a super-hit in Brazil, courtesy YouTube. The song is ‘kallUri vaanil kaayndha nilaave…’ from the movie ‘pennin manadhai thottu’. That movie was a super-flop in Tamil and the song is probably unknown to , maybe, even the producer of the movie. But Brazilians seem to have a super-liking for that song. This particular video is one of the all time most viewed video in you tube with more than 1.7 million hits as of today. Looks like they’re fascinated by the colours of Indian dresses and fast steps of prabhu deva, the lead starrer in the movie. People seem to have a liking especially for prabhu deva’s bright yellow shirts and white pants which make a terrific cocktail with a red-hat! Few Brazilians even want someone in India to request Prabhu Deva to give a performance in Brazil. Probably he can try that and get some market back home.

So, the Brazilian made a request in the Tamil forum to understand the meaning of the song. Duly obliging, someone posted a reply with the meaning of the song and I translated another song – ‘take it easy urvasi’ from the movie ‘kaadhalan’ (Music Director: A.R. Rahman) after someone requested a translation for this song. It was real fun translating the song, let me assure you. This particular song is replete with Tamil slangs and stuff only Indians or Tamils can understand. Here’s the translation I gave. Text inside brackets are transliterations while the ones outside are simple translations.

[some humming.... similar to an Islamic prayer]

urvasi urvasi, take it easy urvasi
if you're skinny you don't need a pharmacy (Usi pOla udambirundhaa thEvaiyilla pharmacy)
urvasi urvasi take it easy urvasi
if you're skinny you don't need a pharmacy (Usi pOla udambirundhaa thEvaiyilla pharmacy)
to win in life have a "take it easy" policy (vaazhkkaiyil vellavE take it easy policy)
in your rainbow like life, youth is a fantasy (vaanavil vaazhkkaiyil vaalibam oru fantasy)
urvasi urvasi, take it easy urvasi iiiiiiiiiiiiii....

speak speak rathiye* rathiye*, there are 300,000 words in tamil (pEsadi radhiye
radhiye thamizhil vaarththaigal moonru latcham)
i'm here for you, can you speak at least two? (neeyadi gadhiye gadhiye rendu solladi kuraindha patcham)
to win in life, have a "take it easy" policy (vaazhkkaiyil vellavE take it easy policy)
in your rainbow like life {it’s not used as a simile but as a metaphor}, youth is a fantasy (vaanavil vaazhkkaiyil vaalibam oru fantasy)

if current gets cut when you're watching 'oliyum oliyum'(1), take it easy policy (oliyum oLiyum current pOnaa take it easy policy)
if you fail your exams even after proper study, take it easy policy (ozhungaa padichum fail aa pOnaa, take it easy policy)
if your dad calls you 'dhandach choru'(2), take it easy policy (dhaNdach chOrunnu appan sonnaa, take it easy policy)
if a bald headed goes to tirupati (3), take it easy policy (vazhukkaiththalaiyan thiruppathi pOnaa, take it easy policy)
urvasi urvasi, take it easy urvasi iiiiiiiiiiiiii....

listen to me rathi rathi, human body has 600,000 nerves (kELadi rathiye rathiye udambil narambugal aaru latcham)
do you know my dear lady, where's the love nerve? (theriyumaa sakhiye sakhiye(4), kaadhal narambu endha pakkam)
to win in life have a "take it easy" policy (vaazhkkaiyil vellavE take it easy policy)
in your rainbow like life, youth is a fantasy (vaanavil vaazhkkaiyil vaalibam oru fantasy)

[some humming by a lady...]

there's no love at first sight (kandadhum kaadhal vazhiyaadhu)
and your virginity isn't lost because someone looks at you (kaNgaLaal kaRpum vazhiyaadhu)
there's no cat that's a vegetarian (poonaiyil saivam kidaiyaadhu)
there's no man who's a raaman(5) (aangaLil raaman kidaiyaadhu)
without a revolution no good happens for a woman (puratchigal Edhum seyyaamal pennukku nanmai vilaiyaadhu)
we worship kannagi(6) with a statue(kannagi silai dhaan inguNdu)
but where do you find even a stone statue for seethai(7)?(seethaikku kallil silaiyEdhu?)

even after showing off, if the girl doesn't look at you, take it easy policy (filmu kaatiyum ponnu paakkalennaa, take it easy policy)
if an old lady sits next to you (in a bus), take it easy policy(pakkaththu seattula paatti ukkaandhaa, take it easy policy)
if a festival falls on a Sunday, take it easy policy (pandigaith thEdhi sundayil vandhaa, take it easy policy) - {coz you don't get an extra holiday!}
if your lady love claims you as her brother {after dating is over, that is!}, take it easy policy (azhudha kaadhali annaannu sonnaa, take it easy policy)
urvasi urvasi, take it easy urvasi
if you're skinny you don't need a pharmacy (Usi pOla udambirundhaa thEvaiyilla pharmacy)
to win in life have a "take it easy" policy (vaazhkkaiyil vellavE take it easy policy)
in your rainbow like life, youth is a fantasy (vaanavil vaazhkkaiyil vaalibam oru fantasy)

[Pure Tamil slang, ignore this line!](pagalile colourgal paaraamal, iruttile kannadiththenna payan?)

what's paradise if you don't have the freedom to enjoy? (sudhandhiram mattum illaamal, sorkkame irundhum enna payan?)
what's the use of attending classes if there are no figures(8) (figarugal yaarum illaamal vaguppugal irundhum enna payan?)
what's the use of dancing at 60 when you didn't dance at 20? (irupadhu vayadhil aadaamal aruvadhil aadi enna payan?)

(1)oliyum oLiyum = sound and light, a popular TV programme in the 90s
(2)pardon me, I can't translate dhandach choru, it's a tamil slang which elders in the house use to scold young people when they don't work after college! It actually means that the person is eating food without earning any penny
(3)tirupati is a popular pilgrimage in India where people shave their hair in the head as a token of devotion/love for the God
(4)sakhi = girl friend in pure tamil (not used colloquially)
(5)raman = another mythological character who was well known for his monogamy
(6)kannagi is a popular character in a tamil epic. she's known for single handedly challenging a king
(7)seethai is the wife of 'raaman' we say in point 5 above. she was calm and composed!
(8)figure = a good looking girl - college slang in Tamil Nadu!