Hammer and ‘tung’: How a hashtag began trending

Movie character Contractor Nesamani was all over social media after a comment about him went viral

May 30, the day Prime Minister Modi and his brand-new cabinet were sworn in, the hashtag #Pray_for_Nesamani was trending on Twitter.

It was to Tamil Nadu what ‘Nikhil elliddeeyappa’ was to Karnataka.

So what is this pop culture reference understood only by Tamil movie buffs and fans of comedian Vadivelu? And how did it start trending across many geographies?

How it all began

Pakistan-based meme page Civil Engineering Learners posted a photo of a hammer, asking what it was called in other countries on Facebook.

Vignesh Prabhakar, a Facebook user, responded, explaining the term with an example, on Wednesday night.

The example is derived from the 2001 Tamil film ‘Friends’, in which a character -- contractor Nesamani (played by actor Vadivelu) -- is hit by a plummeting hammer.

His message: “This is what we call Suthiyal. It will give ‘tung tung’ sound when we blow with it on something. Painting contractor Nesamani’s head was broken… with this one by his nephew. Paavam.”

When people on Twitter understood the context, they started to post sympathetic comments, trending the hashtag #Pray_for_Nesamani overnight.

A post by the Chennai police.

After-effects

Nippon Paint, Chennai police, Chennai Super Kings and Amazon Prime were among those also joined in to use the hashtag opportunity. Also, following in the footsteps of the BJP party’s ‘Chowkidar’ move, some people prefixed their names with ‘Contractor’ on social media handles.

The trend has also inspired a Chennai-based businessman to register ‘Contractor Nesamani’ as a film title with the Tamil Film Producers Council on Thursday.

Other pop culture references

‘Friends’ is popular among the Tamil crowd for its comedy scenes featuring actor Vadivelu.

His dialogue ‘Aaniye pudunga vendaam’ (Don’t remove the nail), delivered in frustration, is such a hit that it even appeared on T-shirts and posters.

After he says this, Nesamani’s assistant drops a hammer on his head by accident.

Some said it was silly and irrelevant, coming on
a day when the Union cabinet was being sworn in.

‘Not funny’

Not everyone found the trend funny. Some said it was silly and irrelevant, coming on a day when the Union cabinet was being sworn in.

Among those who liked the trend, a few prefixed their names with ‘Contractor.’ Some used the hashtag to draw attention to the SRM University suicide and the disappearance of environmental activist T Mugilan.