"Veyyon Silli" (transl. A piece in the sun) is the 2020 Tamil-language song featured in the soundtrack of the Tamil film Soorarai Pottru. Directed by Sudha Kongara, and produced by Suriya under his 2D Entertainment banner, starring himself in the lead role. The song is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, and sung by Harish Sivaramakrishnan and written by Vivek. It is a fusion of melody, folk and progressive rock, and was picturised on Suriya and Aparna Balamurali. The track was launched on 13 February 2020 at a special Boeing 737 aircraft flying on mid-air, the first time in Tamil cinema to do so.[1]

"Veyyon Silli"
Single by G. V. Prakash Kumar (Composer) and Harish Sivaramakrishnan (Singer)
from the album Soorarai Pottru
LanguageTamil
Released13 February 2020
RecordedOctober 2019
StudioDivine Labs, Chennai
GenreMelody, Indian folk, progressive rock
Length5:04
LabelSony Music
Composer(s)G. V. Prakash Kumar
Lyricist(s)Vivek
Producer(s)G. V. Prakash Kumar
Soorarai Pottru track listing
  1. "Mannurunda"
  2. "Veyyon Silli"
  3. "Kaattu Payale"
  4. "Sooravalli"
  5. "Naalu Nimisham"
  6. "Aagasam"
  7. "Maara Theme"
  8. "Usurey"
  9. "Kaiyiley Aagasam" (bonus track)
Music video
"Veyyon Silli" on YouTube

Development

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The recording of the song took place during October 2019, with Harish Sivaramakrishnan, playback singer and frontman of the Bangalore-based contemporary Carnatic progressive rock band Agam, sung the track.[2] According to Prakash, it is a melody number fused with Indian folk and progressive rock, that renders a "new genre in sounding".[2] The track was written by Vivek, in his maiden collaboration with Suriya, and was the first song he had written for the film.[3] According to Vivek, the title "Veyyon Silli" served as a colloquial meaning to "suriyanin thundu" (a piece of the sun), where "Veyyon" means it as 'sun' and is considered to be "a beautiful word in the Tamil literature".[4] In an interview with Avinash Ramachandran of The New Indian Express, Vivek had said that "when a song is featured in a film that has such a big star like Suriya, people will surely pay more attention to the lyrics".[4]

Release and reception

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The song was released on 13 February 2020, coinciding the eve of Valentine's Day.[5] The release coincided with a special launching ceremony that was held at Chennai International Airport where the team planned to launch the single inside the Boeing 737 aircraft flying on mid-air, which is the first in Tamil cinema, to hold a film's song launch during mid-air flight.[6] The team collaborated with SpiceJet as the official aviation partner and had launched a special Boeing 737 passenger jet with the film's poster being branded on it.[7][8] 100 first-time fliers including 70 school children are invited to the single track launch which was held during mid-air flight.[9][10] The song was simultaneously launched on all streaming platforms, the same day, along with the Telugu-version of the track "Pilla Puli".[11]

Antara Chakraborty of The Indian Express called the song as "an earworm as the beats are catchy".[11] Critic-based at Behindwoods called it as an "enjoyable track" similar to "Othayadi Pathayile" from Kanaa (2018) and said "The song is well composed as it clearly makes you want to get from your sedentary position and tap your foot. The song has a rural background in its instrumental arrangement in the second layer if you pay attention and also employs good percussion to suit the current trends."[12] Vipin Nair of Music Aloud chose "Veyyon Silli" as one of his favourite picks and stated it as "the track has smattering of rock elements in it as well, making for a heady combo".[13] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog in his weekly review, wrote "GVP gets many things perfectly right in the song. His own captivating tune and the jaunty rhythms is one. Vivek's lyrics, full of interesting wordplay is another. The best part is the choice of Agam's lead singer, Harish Sivaramakrishnan. Harish is stunningly good in his rendition of this high-pitched melody."[14]

Commercial performance

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For the digital news platform The News Minute, Anjana Shekar listed the song, along with "Kaattu Payale" (another track from the film) in the year-ender review 7 Tamil Songs That Needed in Your Playlist.[15] Spotify chose "Veyyon Silli" and five other tracks from the film's album in their Top Tamil Tracks of 2020.[16] It was the most streamed Tamil song on JioSaavn in 2020.[17] As of February 2022, the song garnered about 66 million views, with the lyrical version gained more views (41 million views) than the video song.[18][19]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from YouTube.[18][19]

Track listings

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Original[20]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."Veyyon Silli"VivekHarish Sivaramakrishnan5:04
Telugu[21]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."Pilla Puli"Ramajogayya SastryAnurag Kulkarni5:03
Kannada[22]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."Naguthalai"Anirudh SastryAnirudh Sastry5:07
Malayalam[23]
No.TitleLyricsPerformer(s)Length
1."Andhikku Koottu"SudamsuSarath Santhosh5:07

Accolades

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Award[a] Date of ceremony[b] Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
South Indian International Movie Awards 19 September 2021 Best Music Director – Tamil G. V. Prakash Kumar Won [24]
[25]
[26]
Best Lyricist – Tamil Vivek Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil Harish Sivaramakrishnan Won

Notes

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  1. ^ Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
  2. ^ Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References

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  1. ^ The Hindu Net Desk (13 February 2020). "'Veyyon Silli' from Suriya's 'Soorarai Pottru' launched aboard SpiceJet flight". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Agam's frontman Harish Sivaramakrishnan joins Soorarai Pottru as singer - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Suriya's Soorarai Pottru Veyyon Silli song will be the first collaboration of Suriya and Lyricist Vivek". Behindwoods. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE: Soorarai Pottru lyricist Vivek speaks about Veyyon Silli". Cinema Express. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Soorarai Pottru grand audio release in unique way! - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Soorarai Pottru: Suriya and team to take 100 kids on a flight to launch Veyyon Silli song". India Today. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Suriya's Soorarai Pottru to release a branded Spiceject plane on February 13". Behindwoods. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Suriya's Soorarai Pottru Veyyon Sili to release mid air on Feb 13th in Spicejet Boeing 737". Behindwoods. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  9. ^ Subramanian, Anupama (15 February 2020). "Audio launch in the sky". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  10. ^ "'Veyyon Silli' song launched mid-air, Suriya takes 70 first time flyer kids on flight". The News Minute. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Soorarai Pottru song Veyyon Silli: This GV Prakash number is an earworm". The Indian Express. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Soorarai Pottru - Veyyon Silli music review | Suriya | G.V. Prakash Kumar". Behindwoods. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Soorarai Pottru – Music Review (Tamil Movie Soundtrack)". Music Aloud. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Milliblog Weeklies, Week 106 – Feb.16, 2020 by Milliblog!". 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  15. ^ "2020 is almost over, celebrate with these 7 Tamil songs in your playlist". The News Minute. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Top Tamil Tracks of 2020". Spotify. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  17. ^ JioSaavn. "Top 5 Tamil Songs of 2020". Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  18. ^ a b Soorarai Pottru - Veyyon Silli Lyric | Suriya | G.V. Prakash Kumar | Sudha Kongara, retrieved 15 February 2022
  19. ^ a b Soorarai Pottru - Veyyon Silli Video | Suriya | G.V. Prakash Kumar | Sudha Kongara, retrieved 15 February 2022
  20. ^ Veyyon Silli, 24 July 2020, retrieved 15 February 2022
  21. ^ Pilla Puli, 24 July 2020, retrieved 15 February 2022
  22. ^ Naguthalai, 30 October 2020, retrieved 15 February 2022
  23. ^ Andhikku Kootu, 30 October 2020, retrieved 15 February 2022
  24. ^ "SIIMA Awards 2021 Nominations: The Award Ceremony To Be Held In Hyderabad On September 11, 12". The Indian Express. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  25. ^ "The 9th South Indian International Movie Awards Nominations for 2020". South Indian International Movie Awards. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  26. ^ "SIIMA: Soorarai Pottru, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo win big, K Viswanath honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award". The Indian Express. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.