Yenthiru Anjali Yenthiru’s teaser was unveiled recently by music composer Hip Hop Tamizha Aadhi on social media. The song aims to create awareness about the societal and personal problems that arise from alcohol addiction. The teaser shows T Rajendar and lyricist Kabilan holding the Tamil Nadu government accountable for the increase in alcohol consumption in the state.
The lyrics of the song goes: ‘Thanni vandi oda vaikka thalaivan edhukku?’, and is accompanied by visuals of a lathi charge outside a Chennai city TASMAC shop.
Kabilan, T Rajendar urge the public to ‘beat the bottle’ with this initiative. A famous dialogue from Mani Ratnam’s Anjali – ‘Yenthiru Anjali Yenthiru’ also features in the video.
In conversation with Silverscreen, T Rajendar says that a grassroots movement aimed at eradicating alcohol consumption in the state is of utmost necessity.
“We see young men and women gravitating towards alcohol in the state. I think there was a dialogue in a recent movie that said that the only place people from all strata of society sit together in companionship is the local TASMAC shop. These sort of lines are irresponsible as they promote the idea that drinking together is some sort of ritual that binds people from all corners of the world. It needn’t be the only thing. There are several other places where one can find people in perfect harmony. The library, for instance. But you don’t see filmmakers glorifying that,” he said.
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To rectify this, stars need to come together to make sure that their fans don’t fall into the trap of alcoholism. The warning tags that come before films don’t really cut it anymore, T Rajendar says. “In fact, they are more of an after thought than anything else. Stars have a responsibility towards their fans. They can’t use a smoking scene for style and then say smoking is bad. The underlying message is that it is stylish, but the actor is bound by law to say it is bad. It’s better not to smoke or drink altogether onscreen. But that ethical responsibility is not there,” he added.
Fans of the director note the irony in T Rajendar’s message. His son, actor Silambarasan, has made use of scenes that involve alcohol and smoking in several of his films. In fact, the actor has signed on to compose the music for a film titled 90 ml. This movie even has a song called ‘Marana Matta’ – dead drunk.
When questioned about this, T Rajendar chose not to comment. The overall attention needs to be on the song alone, T Rajendar said. “Nothing else must cloud it as this is an important message.”
Music for the song has been composed by Balamurali Bala. The full song will be released on September 8.