4 years of Aalaporaan Thamizhan: The sensational song which brought back AR Rahman and Vijay after a decade

The hugely popular song, Vaathi Coming, from Vijay-starrer Master which released earlier this year, is still celebrated by fans and celebs, including a few actors and sports players. The star's celebrated song Verithanam from Bigil, released in 2019, was also lapped up enthusiastically by his fans. Needless to say, Thalapathy as he is fondly referred to by his fans, has been a part of many chartbuster songs in his career spanning two-and-a-half-decades. However, Aalaporaan Thamizhan, the sensational track from Mersal which was released as the first single from Mersal four years ago on August 10, still remains the favourite of many of his hardcore fans. The song received unanimous positive response soon after it was released and went on to became an anthem of sorts for fans of both Vijay and AR Rahman who composed the song. 

Kailash Kher, Sathyaprakash, Pooja AV and Deepak have lent voice for the track which had goosebumps-inducing lyrics penned by Vivek. The lyrics depicted Tamil pride which instantly connected with the Tamil audience across the globe. Interestingly, the beginning of the year (2017) witnessed massive protests in Tamil Nadu and a few other places after the Supreme Court ordered a ban on jallikattu, the traditional sport of Tamilians. Thousands of people from different walks of life and age groups gathered at Chennai's Marina Beach, expressing their anger as they felt that the decision to ban the sport was an attempt to meddle with their identity. 

Aalaporaan Thamizhan, which released a few months after this massive protest from people, was instantly lapped up by fans of other Kollywood stars as well, thanks to the manner in which it celebrated Tamil culture and civilization. The song's popularity was one of the prime factors behind the humongous expectations the film carried when it released on Deepavali. The song, which has clocked closed to 150M views and counting on YouTube, became even popular after the film's theatrical release because of Vijay's screen presence, his effortless dancing, cinematographer GK Vishnu's visuals and the way the whole sequences in it were choreographed.

The fast-paced song which incorporated ample use of folk instruments, brought AR Rahman and Vijay together after a decade, another reason the song as well as other tracks from the film was celebrated to the hilt. The duo had previously teamed up for Azhagiya Tamizh Magan in 2007 which, was also a Deepavali release. Despite the film opening to a lukewarm response, the songs in the movie became instant chartbusters, and still remain popular among fans of both Rahman and Vijay, apart from other music buffs. After Mersal, the duo teamed up for Sarkar and Bigil, which had some foot-tapping numbers, but fans note that the magic created by Aalaporaan Thamizhan was unparalleled. This was a song which fans loved experiencing while watching on the big screen. As the epic song completes four years, many of them took to social media to appreciate the crew behind the track. Some of them even posted videos of them dancing and celebrating the song in movie halls during the film's release.