April 8th, 2009 | Category: These guys look like they are having a great time, coupling their stirring ballad with incredible arm gestures. I’ll be the first to admit that I, too, could not resist the urge to pantomime along with the tempo of the song. The elemental characteristic of each jolly incarnation of the singer reminds me of Power Rangers. That’s a plus.
“Tunak Tunak Tun”, often referred to solely as “Tunak”, is a bhangra/pop love song created by Indian artist Daler Mehndi and released in 1998. It has become an internet meme because of its catchy tune and the amusing dance in its music video, inspiring numerous spin-offs and parodies. The music video was the first made in India to use bluescreen technology, which allowed the singer to superimpose his image over various computer-generated backgrounds, one featuring St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.
The “strange” dancing and presence of only the singer in this video was a response to criticism from the world of Bhangra pop. Many critics at the time complained that his music was popular due to his videos which featured beautiful women dancing; his response was to create a video that featured only himself. As he predicted, the song was still a huge success, but the phenomenon of foreign language and unusual dancing made the video a cult hit in other countries as well.
