That the World has a ‘Hello’ day is something this writer learned just this week. But the true significance of a day such as this can be summed up by the sheer number of songs that begin with ‘Hello’. It’s not only Lionel Richie or Adele who thought of this salutation as a nice way to begin a song. Way way back, our Tamil lyricists did it, all before it was cool to do so. In honour of ‘World Hello Day’, here’s a super cool song that will have you at ‘Hello’.
‘Hello Hello En Kadhala‘ – Villain
Year – 2002
Music Composer – Vidyasagar
Singer – Tippu, Sadhana Sargam
Starring – Ajith Kumar, Meena, Kiran Rathod
Director – KS Ravi Kumar
Yet another love triangle, this one featuring Meena and Kiran Rathod, who vie for the affections of a chubby Ajith Kumar in faux leather.
‘Hello Mr Kadhala‘ – Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar
Year – 1998
Music Composer – Karthik Raja
Starring – Prabhudeva, Meena, Jayaram, Maheshwari
Director – C Sundar
Prabhu Deva is caught in an unlikely love triangle made up of actresses Meena and Maheshwari. Udit Narayan and Anuradha bite and chew their way through Palani Bharathy’s lyrics. Thankfully enough, the song had enough ‘Hello’s’ in them to offer some respite.
‘Hello My Dear Wrong Number‘ – Manmatha Leelai
Year – 1976
Music Composer – MS Viswanathan
Starring – Kamal Haasan, Jayaprada, Radha Ravi
Director – K Balachander
Lyricist – Kannadasan
An upbeat musical number from MS Viswanathan that accurately captures the highs and lows of starting a phone romance with a ‘wrong number’.
‘Hello Mister Ethirkatchi’ – Iruvar
Year – 1997
Music Composer – AR Rahman
Starring – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, Tabu, Revathy, Nasser.
Director – Mani Ratnam
Lyricist – Vairamuthu
Aishwarya wears a spangly green dress in this jazz number that takes us back in time to Casablanca. At least, that’s what we like to think.
