Saami, Jimmy Jimmy, Kala Chashma trend globally: What makes Indian songs go viral?

to Indian songs surface on

As videos of people singing and grooving social media, we look at the reasons behind their global reach

They say, music knows no boundaries and that’s evident from the kind of popularity some Indian songs have earned globally in the recent times. The song Saami from Pushpa: The Rise (2021) had a small Nepali girl dancing her heart out, which evoked cheers from actor Rashmika Mandanna, who featured in the song. Rapper Snoop Dogg also shared the clip on social media. Late composer Bappi Lahiri’s song Jimmy Jimmy from Disco Dancer (1982), which has been popular for decades, was used by people in China recently to protest against the new Covid-19 lockdowns. Quickstyle, a Norwegian boys dance group, became popular when they danced to the tunes of Chura Ke Dil Mera (Main Khiladi Tu Anari; 1994) and Kala Chashma (Baar Baar Dekho; 2016) at a wedding.

So, what is it about Indian songs that make them go viral abroad? Composer Devi Sri Prasad, the man behind Saami, says, “I think the uniqueness is attached to Indian instruments. Music has no language when it is catchy and hummable. The word Saami was repeated in the song and that’s another factor. For any song to become popular, the lyrics and phonetics help. The same happened with my songs Oo Antava (Pushpa: The Rise) and Daddy Mummy (Villu; 2019). They played at many clubs in the UK.”

Quickstyle founder Bilal says their aim is to bridge the gap between the West and India with music. “Indian music is the king of melody, which evokes people’s feelings. Many people who don’t speak in Hindi come up to us, as they don’t know the meaning of the song, but they feel it. Even when we danced to Kala Chashma, they understood it means black glasses,” he shares.

Musician Shankar Mahadevan says people abroad like to understand Hindi songs: “We’ve danced to the song Macarena since childhood. Do we know the meaning of even one word of the song? It’s just the vibe that connects on a different level.”

Quickstyle; (left) a still from Oo Antava; (below) a still from Kala Chashma

A still from Saami