Album Name : Tamil Semmozhi Manadu Anthem - AR Rahman
Year : 2010

Song Lyrics

About the song

The World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, officially the 9th World Tamil Conference and informally known as the World Tamil Meet, is an international meet by Tamil scholars, researchers, poets, celebrities etc. from all around the world, which was held in Coimbatore from 23rd June to 27th June 2010. A poem titled “Semmozhi “was penned by the writer turned politician, M. Karunanidhi specifically for this meet, but with the wider vision that it be an anthem for Tamils across the globe. He demanded this poem to be set to tune by ace Tamil composer A. R. Rahman.

It took two to two-and-a-half months for Rahman to complete recording the song, which was immensely praised and skyrocketed to fame upon its release, Neither Rahman nor, Gautham Menon who directed the song, took any remuneration to do this song.

Lyrics

The lyrics were penned by M. Karunanidhi. The central message of the song is that all were equal by birth and they should have the feeling that they remained so even later and they should live as one race. Through the lyrics, the history of Tamil literature is also highlighted. After the initial composing was over, a new verse was added highlighting the works of Tamil poets Kambar and Avvaiyar.

Artistes Involved

Solo Singers (in order of appearance)

• T. M. Soundararajan
• A. R. Rahman
• Harini
• Chinmayi
• Karthik
• Hariharan
• Yuvan Shankar Raja
• P. Susheela
• Vijay Yesudas
• G. V. Prakash Kumar
• T. L. Maharajan
• Bombay Jayashri
• Aruna Sairam
• Nithyasree Mahadevan
• S. Sowmya
• Blaaze
• Kash
• M. Y. Abdul Ghani
• Khajamoideen
• S. Sabumoideen
• T. M. Krishna
• Naresh Iyer
• Srinivas
• Gunasekharan
• Shruti Haasan
• Chinnapponnu

Backing Vocals

• A. R. Reihana
• Benny Dayal
• Neha
• Ujjayinee
• Devan Ekambaram
• Krissy
• Yuvan Shankar Raja
• Nithin Raj
• Saketh
• R. Vijay Narain
• Dr. Narayan
• Bhagyaraj
• Subiksha
• Anita
• K. Renu
• Maya Sricharan
• Kalayani
• Raqueeb Alam

Instrumentalists

• A. Sivamani – drums, percussion
• Purushotham – tavil
• Natarajan – nadaswaram

Album Production

• Producer: A. R. Rahman
• Engineers: S. Sivakumar, Krishna Chetan, Suresh Perumal, Srinidhi Venkatesh, Kannan Ganpat, Pradeep
• Mixing: K. J. Singh, P. A. Deepak, Srinidhi
• Mastering: S. Sivakumar
• Programming: Krishna Chetan
• Coordination: Noell James

Music Video

The video directed by Gautham Menon showcases the evolution of the Tamil script over time as well as aspects of Tamil culture, Tamil education, and the aesthetic beauty of Tamil locales. It also features the artistes who were involved in the recording together in front of an orchestration of the words "Semmozhiyaana Thamizh Mozhiyaam." Popular singers Anuradha Sriram and Unni Menon are also featured as part of the group, although they were unavailable for the recording of the song. Bharatanatyam dancer Srinidhi Chidambaram, actresses Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Anjali and actor Akhil Farook as well as actor-cum-film producer Ganesh Janardhanan are also featured in the video. Towards the end of the video, M. Karunanidhi signs off, and a group of youngsters run towards the orchestration.

The video was launched on the 29th of May, 2010 by Tamil Nadu Information and Publicity Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi. While launching the video, Ilamvazhuthi said it would be telecast on LED screens fitted in many parts of Coimbatore and screened in all theatres in Tamil Nadu. In Chennai, it would be screened in select places like railway stations, bus terminus and Koyambedu market. Gautham Menon, also speaking at the launch said that shooting the video spanned over 3 months due to delays in receiving the necessary permission for arial shots. He added that while he would have liked to highlight members of the Tamil diaspora, he could not due to such restraints.

Credits

• Direction: Gautham Menon
• Cinematography: Manoj Paramahamsa
• Editing: Anthony Gonsalves
• Art Direction: Rajeevan
• Production: Escape Artists Motion Pictures