Not 'Love Storiya' but Instagram reels ruined Brahmastra's Kesariya

Should we hold the lyricists and the makers of the song Kesariya from _Brahmastra_ responsible for the ‘Lovestoriyaan’ debacle? The answer is yes and no. We must hold them responsible for over-promoting the song. Since when do songs from films have their own teaser? In a time when movies, even those which are mediocre and don’t have an ensemble cast are being over-promoted and shoved down our throats, it is natural to have a poster launch, teaser launch, trailer launch and then the release. Brahmastra, however, saw a title logo launch, logo launch, motion poster launch and of course, the teaser launch of Kesariya launch in addition to the above launches. Did too many launches and step-by-step unveiling succeed in creating hype around Brahmastra? Yes. But was it an overkill and set the expectations from the film and the bar massively high? Also yes. Adding to it was the Ranbir-Alia wedding and now even the video for Kesariya was expected to show Ralia’s chemistry come to life on the big-screen. While over-the-top promotions do the job just right when the film has nearly everything in order (which is impossible), they do mess things up if anything is slightly out of place. For Kesariya, it was the ‘Lovestoriya’ bit which not only became a top Twitter trend, but also ruined everyone’s Sunday with many people agreeing the lyric was like Elaichi in Biryani. Sure, the songwriters and the marketing team are at fault. But it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Instagram Reels also played a role here. How Reels Killed Kesariya Since the Reels feature on Instagram was launched in India after the TikTok ban in 2020, it has got its fair share of appreciation and criticism. While it was lauded for helming the rise of short-form video content, there was also criticism that it reduced the attention spans of the Gen-Z and killed character-driven long-form video content. Reels also saw many songs, both from yesteryears (some dating back to even the 90s) and those recently-launched go viral with trends like the silhouette challenge, transformations and fun gags. However, some songs like Kesariya went viral with no particular trend and as a result, became so overplayed and overused that they eventually failed to leave their mark. What happened to Kesariya on Reels is similar to what happened when a catchy song was overplayed on the radio stations in the 90s - it was eventually forgotten and done away with. In late-June and early-July almost every second Instagram reel - hell, even the food reels - had Kesariya playing in the background. While it is an indicator of the song’s immense popularity, it also shows that when overplayed, even catchy and addictive earworms can make you want to stop listening to them. Kesariya did just that. Adding to its troubles was, of course, the ‘Lovestoriya’ bit which made the song a target of social media trolling. The ‘Lovestoriya’ Debacle The thing about the ‘Lovestoriya’ bit in Kesariya is that it ruined a near-perfect song. While we expected a love anthem - a soulful rendition of sorts with meaningful lyrics - we got the same, except that one bit which seemed out-of-place and was particularly jarring to the ears in a soulful song full of Hindi (and some Urdu) words. Like Elaichi in Biryani, it single-handedly ruined a near-perfect song which we were hearing on every second reel day after day. To be fair, there have been plenty of such gaffes and out-of-place occurrences of words in many Hindi songs. In SRK’s hit Dard-e-Disco, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar rhymed ‘San Francisco’ with Dard-e-Disco, which, in all seriousness, is a much more serious offense than using ‘_Love Storiy_a’ in Kesariya. But then again, back in 2008, the promotions weren’t as OTT and Reels didn’t exist either - two reasons why Dard-e-Disco didn’t see much backlash over its lyrics. To put things in perspective, the infamous Selfish song from Race 3, written by Salman Khan, got trolled back in 2018 for precisely the same reason - the out-of-place usage of an English word in a song that is meant to be soulful. Will lyricists be careful now that Kesariya got the kind of reaction it did? Probably. But it is also imperative to not oversell not just a film or a song but literally any commodity to the point where the consumer expects it to be nearly perfect. Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75.  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.