Love, troll, fix: The many takes on ‘Kesariya’

Bollywood fans are divided over the much-vaunted romantic Hindi song that released recently. Barkha Kumari tunes into the jugalbandi

I moved on from the song ‘Kesariya’ from ‘Brahmastra: Part One — Shiva’ soon after it dropped on July 17. The use of ‘Love Storiya’ in lyrics right before the Hindi track launches into stirring hook lines sounded plain odd to come back for it.

It was like the climax of Deepika Padukone’s ‘Gehraiyaan’ no one expected, like the peppercorns I despise in soups, like the wrong turn that ruins a road trip.

I did not make much of my disappointment for ‘the love song of the season’, hyped for months around Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s reel-turned-real chemistry. But netizens were on a different trip — many were trolling the ballad, a productive few were fixing the “cringe” lyrics.

Singer-songwriter Harsh More did an unplugged cover on Instagram, replacing ‘Kitno Ki Love Storiya’ with ‘Teri Meri Yeh Dooriyan’. The video has logged 18 lakh views and comments from ‘Kesariya after surgery’ to ‘Make it the official version’.

Then content creator Nikunj Lotia aka Be YouNick belted the song on a ukulele, changing the kooky bits to ‘Hai Jaane Kaise Teri Meri Kahaaniya’ and clocking 14 lakh views. ‘Kahaaniya’, many felt, is easier on the ear than ‘Storiya’, Hinglish wordplay the makers have thrown in.

Soon ‘Without Love Storiya’ reels took over social media, with some sing-alongs (by singer/music producer Shubham Mehta), and many unworthy go at finding the right rhyme (Batiyaan, Loriyan, Choriyan, etc).

Not everybody approves of this “fuss” though and it is understandable. ‘Kesariya’ is not outstanding when compared to the instant hits Pritam, Amitabh Bhattacharya and Arijit Singh, the music composer, lyricist and singer on the song, have given. But its gentle melody, thumping beats, and Arijit’s lovely-husky voice, even if predictable, grow on.

‘Love Storiya’ took some time getting used to but that’s that, many who liked the track wrote in comments. Non-native Hindi speakers did not find anything ‘off’. ‘When did art need to be fixed/rescued?’ one shot back. Some defended Pritam and Amitabh as “hugely talented people” who wouldn’t swap Hindi words for English on a whim.

Singaporean-Indian playback singer Priyadarshini would agree: “I feel the song is created (this way) to suit the film’s narrative and become trendy.” She did not mind the curveball. Regional songs often make use of English words and portmanteaus and the viral hit ‘Kolaveri Di’ is an example, she points out.

Perhaps ‘Love Storiya’ was a bit too casual for a track that has “a divine vibe” to it and the promise of “eternal romance” (shot in the holy city of Varanasi, on that), Nagarjun Sharma, a young Kannada film lyricist, surmises.

But director Ayan Mukherji thought it was a “fun twist”.

Sure. Have you seen influencer Ankush Bahuguna abandoning his ‘Kesariya’ cover as he leaps out of the bed crying ‘Mere Ghar Mein Chipkaliyaan (lizards)’?