Velum Mayilum: Sivakarthikeyan's first indie single is a Murugan ode

Sivakarthikeyan Productions has opened a new line for itself. Velum Mayilum, a devotional ode to Lord Murugan, dropped on Wednesday evening as the banner’s first independent music release. Sivakarthikeyan wrote the lyrics and produced it. Nivas K Prasanna composed the song and sang it. Sivakumar Murugesan conceived and directed the video. His Thaai Kizhavi is the banner’s most recent theatrical hit, and he is currently directing Sivakarthikeyan’s next film Seyon.

The crew sheet is heavier than an indie single usually carries. Vivek Vijayakumar shoots; San Lokesh edits; Pradeep Raj heads art; Suren G handles sound design with S. Alagiakoothan. Nivas K Prasanna’s arrangement builds violin (Akkarsh N. Kasyap) and tabla (Martin) under his own vocal, with a children’s chorus folded in across the second half. The video was shot at the Arulmigu Sree Balamurugan Thirukkovil at Thandikudi, near Palani. Murugan country, both on screen and off it.

Sivakarthikeyan’s lyrics keep close to Tamil devotional convention: the title itself carries the vel and the peacock, the two icons that always accompany Murugan in temple imagery. Nivas K Prasanna folds folk textures and contemporary production around the words. He is also the voice on the track, which lets the song stay the single-hand effort the indie format rewards.

There is a sub-plot the credits make hard to ignore. Sivakarthikeyan and Sivakumar Murugesan both carry Murugan in their names. Karthikeyan and Murugesan are both names of the deity the song addresses. Nivas K Prasanna sits at the third corner of the same triangle, as composer and singer.

The release also serves as an early tee-up for Seyon. With the director-actor pairing now in front of the audience on a single, the film, when it arrives, will not be entering cold. The song has crossed two hundred thousand views inside its first day on the Sivakarthikeyan Productions YouTube channel.