Jonita Gandhi in this exclusive interview with DT Next celebrates the success of Arabic Kuthu, the first single from Vijay-Nelson Dilipkumar’s Beast, and her experience recording with composer Anirudh Ravichander for the chartbuster.
Ever since its release on February 14, Arabic Kuthu from Beast, composed by Anirudh Ravichander and crooned by himself along with Jonita Gandhi, has been the talk of the town. Even stars like Samantha shook a leg for the number and posted it on social media. We got in touch with Jonita to know what she feels about the massive success of the song that has lyrics in Tamil, Arabic and even gibberish by Sivakarthikeyan. She says, “When I first heard the song, I assumed that the ‘gibberish’ lyrics were a place-holder.
In fact some of my portions in the song are actually in Tamil, and some are in a made-up language. I think what they recorded as a place-holder ended up sounding the best, and so it stuck through to the final. I loved the song as soon as I heard it. Anirudh has a way of always making effervescent and flamboyant music, and I had a feeling this would be no different.”
Arabic Kuthu is Jonita’s fifth collaboration with Anirudh after delivering hit songs such as Orey Oru, Chellamma and Iraiva. Talking about their reunion for Arabic Kuthu, Jonita says, “Working with Anirudh is always a blast. He is amazing to work with, and I’m really excited to have one more song with him as another feather in my cap. I’m glad the fun that went into making the song is being felt everywhere.” Jonita also talks about the making of the video that has Jonita and Anirudh seen wearing Arab costumes. When asked if that helped them get into the groove to record for Halamathi Habibi, she laughs saying, “We did take a little inspiration from middle eastern culture, and went ahead with it. It was fun to incorporate an Arabic vibe to the look and feel of the performance for the lyrical video.”
Jonita has her own share of Arabic lines in the song. Halwa ey Balubabeedhadhe
Ey Balubabeedhadha are the Arabic lines she sang in the peppy number. While many are curious to know what it means, she smiles, “I think you will have to ask them yourself to SK, Nelson and Ani. Until then, it shall remain a mystery.”
Almost 70 million views in five days is a record number. The song has been trending at number one position on YouTube, and has sparked off several memes and reels. Reacting to it, Jonita says, “I am lost for words. Besides being grateful to Anirudh for having me on board, I want to send lots of love to all the listeners and viewers who are making this track grow so widely in a quick span of time. The amount of love pouring in is truly surreal.”
