"Pi's Lullaby" is the Tamil-language intro song of the 2012 film ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a ...

''. It was composed by

Mychael Danna Mychael Danna (born September 20, 1958) is a Canadian composer of film and television scores. He won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Score for '' Life of Pi''. He has also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Compositio ...

, with lyrics by

Bombay Jayashri "Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung songs in multiple languages, including for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and English movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri ...

, who also performed the song. The song earned a nomination at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

for

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

. The nomination marks the first ever

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

song to be nominated in the category. According to Jayashri's blog, in order to convey the mood he wanted for the song,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

told her "A child sleeps not because he is sleepy, but because he feels safe."

Controversy

The Irayimman Thampi Memorial Trust alleged that the first eight lines of "Pi's Lullaby" were not an original composition but a mere translation into Tamil of

Irayimman Thampi Iravivarman Thampi, better known as Irayimman Thampi (1782–1856), was an Indian Carnatic musician, music composer and poet from the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a vocalist in the court of Swathi Thirunal. His compositions include the lullab ...

's famous

lullaby A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowl ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, "

Omanathinkal Kidavo Omanathinkal Kidavo () is a lullaby in Malayalam that was composed by Irayimman Thampi on the birth of Maharajah Swathi Thirunal of Travancore. To date, it remains one of the most popular lullabies in the Malayalam language. History The lulla ...

". Jayashri however maintains that she merely wrote what came to her heart and has denied the allegation against her. Earlier, Jayashri had used Thampi's lullaby in her Album named 'Vatsalyam', released in 2003.

References

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External links

* http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/a-case-of-two-lullabies-113031500573_1.html 2012 songs Songs written for films Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Lullabies Songs in Tamil