"Selfie Pulla" () is an Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
-language song composed by
Anirudh Ravichander
Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also known mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian film scorer music composer music producer singer and instrumentalist who primarily works in Tamil films. He is the son of actor Ravi Raghavendra. ...
. The song was featured in the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
for the 2014 Tamil
action drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
''
Kaththi
''Kaththi'' (; ) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action social drama film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, and produced by Allirajah Subaskaran under the banner Lyca Productions, along with Ayngaran International, as the co-producer ...
'', directed by
AR Murugadoss
Murugadoss Arunasalam (born 25 September 1974), commonly known as A. R. Murugadoss, is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on ...
, that starred
Vijay and
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu (formerly: Samantha Akkineni; born 28 April 1987) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She is a recipient of several awards, including four South Filmfare Awards, six South Indian ...
, and was performed by the lead actor Vijay alongside
Sunidhi Chauhan, with lyrics written by
Madhan Karky
Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an ass ...
. The song was shot in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
, featuring the lead actors, was choreographed by
Shobi
Shobi ben Nahash was the son of King Nahash of Ammon and brother of his predecessor Hanun. When Hanun was deposed by the Israelites under King David, Shobi was made king of Ammon in Hanun's place and became a loyal vassal of David's. See 2 Samuel ...
.
The song released as a part of the soundtrack album on 24 September 2014 through the
Eros Music
Eros Music (also known as Eros Now Music) is a music studio and distributor based in Mumbai, India. It is the dependent and domestic music label of Eros International
Eros International Media Ltd (also known as Eros India) is an Indian mot ...
label.
However, a rough cut of the track was leaked, days before the official release.
"Selfie Pulla" received positive response from music listeners and became a huge hit among youngsters. The track crossed a million views upon release in 2014,
and had garnered about 113 million views as of February 2022.
Production
The track was composed during late-April 2014, and by mid-June, Vijay was reported to sing for this track.
While, it was initially deciphered as a "love kuththu" number,
the lyricist of the track
Madhan Karky
Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an ass ...
stated it as a "stylish folk number".
Karky wrote the lyrics for the track in August 2014.
The same month, guitarist
Keba Jeremiah
Keba Jeremiah (born 18 October 1986) is an Indian guitarist and music producer. He works on musical soundtracks for Gospel songs, Bollywood, Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood music industry.
Early life
Born and brought up in Al Karama, Dubai, Keb ...
too worked on this track. Vijay started recording for the track in September 2014, alongside
Sunidhi Chauhan.
The title for the song was officially revealed as "Selfie Pulla".
Release
Before the official album release, a rough cut of the track was leaked onto the internet.
The track, along with the film's soundtrack album, was exclusively released on 23 September 2014 through the
iTunes music platform, and was mass released on 24 September 2014. The release coincided with the film's audio launch held at
The Leela Palace Hotel in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
.
Anirudh and Sunidhi Chauhan performed the song live on stage with the film's musical team.
Reception
Durgesh Haridas in his review for ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...
'' stated that the song "is by far the most expected one by fans and Vijay doesn’t disappoint. Trendy lyrics from Madhan Karky, addictive guitars by Keba really carry the song" and concluded "''Selfie Pulla'' is certainly a number that even kids will be humming". K. Siddharth of ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' wrote "the title hook of the song is pretty addictive but the song does follow the pattern of songs like 'Kattu Kattu' from ''
Thirupaachi
''Thirupaachi'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Perarasu. The film stars Vijay, Trisha and Mallika, with Livingston, Pasupathy, Benjamin, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vaiyapuri and Manoj K. Jayan in other roles ...
'' (2005) and 'Gandi Baat' from ''
R... Rajkumar'' (2013). Vijay does an impressive job with his singing and seems to have had lot of fun while singing this number. The lyrics do focus on the current generation common terms like
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
,
Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in ras ...
much along the lines of Google Google. Get your dancing shoes on!"
''Behindwoods'' called the track as the "most beguiling song of the year". Indiaglitz wrote: "Vijay's sensational form as a singer continues on this album too, as he effortlessly crooned a fascinating romantic kuthu with Sunidhi. Anirudh's sagacious sound arrangements with fierce guitar portions and shutter sounds are captivating. The 30 second long prelude consists of guitars and drums are addictive, and Vijay takes off like a well oiled engine from the very first second to deliver an impressive track." Vipin Nair of ''Music Aloud'' said that the track is "custom-made for Vijay’s limited vocal skills
..Vijay does deliver it the right way though, alongside Sunidhi Chauhan, and the techno-''kuthu'' fusion arrangement too is engaging".
Music video
The song was initially reported to be shot in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
But following the audio launch, on 26 September, the team headed to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
for shooting the track.
The song was choreographed by
Shobi
Shobi ben Nahash was the son of King Nahash of Ammon and brother of his predecessor Hanun. When Hanun was deposed by the Israelites under King David, Shobi was made king of Ammon in Hanun's place and became a loyal vassal of David's. See 2 Samuel ...
and about 100 dancers participated in the song sequence.
Shooting for that track, being completed on 30 September, as was the entire filming being completed. The music video was launched on 24 October 2014, and crossed a million views upon release.
In July 2021, the song crossed more than 100 million views.
''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'' listed the track as "one of the iconic dance numbers of the decade" saying "In this incredibly peppy number, Vijay also had the gorgeous Samantha adding to the charm, and the two actors brought out the joy of a romantic couple in a terrific way".
Impact
The Students Society Party (SSP) Trust announced a challenge under the title "Let's take a crazy selfie pulla", similar to the song. This challenge encourages youngsters taking a smiley selfie and recommend others to do the same, while also posting their selfies on the trust's official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
handle by tagging them. The president of SSP trust, Thamim Ansari M. said that "For every selfie posted, the SSP will contribute a stationery kit to a child at orphanages and government schools. We will reach all the needy children, says president He mentioned that giving a stationery kit not only served the purpose of assisting them in their classroom activities; they would also conduct motivational sessions to assure them that they have SSPians to support their dream." In the
second season
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...
of
Bigg Boss Tamil
''Bigg Boss'' also known as ''BB'' is an Indian Tamil-language version of the reality TV program ''Bigg Boss''. The program follows the ''Big Brother'' format developed by Endemol in the Netherlands. Over five years, Bigg Boss has rolled out ...
, as a part of a mini task,
Mumtaj
Mumtaz, also credited as Mumtaj, (born Nagma Khan) is an Indian actress and a former item number known primarily for her work in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, She has also appeared in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu films. She entered ...
asked
Sendrayan
Senrayan is an Indian actor who has predominantly worked in Tamil language films. After making his acting debut in Vetrimaaran's '' Polladhavan'' (2007), he appeared in other small roles before winning acclaim for his portrayal of a petty crimin ...
to recite the "Selfie Pulla" track in order to use the restroom. The song was played at the
2015 edition of
Indian Super League
The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...
's opening ceremony.
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
* {{YouTube, xZ92nnR1Pt8, "Selfie Pulla"
2014 songs
Songs written for Tamil films
Songs with music by Anirudh Ravichander
Songs in Tamil
Songs with lyrics by Madhan Karky
Selfies