Is ‘Ala Bolelo’ actually Malayalam? Arunraja Kamaraj finally responds to ‘Jailer 2’ song backlash

There is more to the Malayalam-sounding lyrics in Jailer 2’s ‘Ala Bolelo’ than meets the ear. Lyricist Arunraja Kamaraj has now explained that the words were deliberately written as gibberish.
He explained that the lyrics were never meant to be Malayalam in the first place. According to him, director Nelson Dilipkumar specifically wanted the song to have a gibberish quality, with the focus on how the words sound rather than what they mean.

Speaking to Cineulagam, Arunraja said listeners can pronounce the words in ‘Ala Bolelo’ in different ways because they do not have a specific meaning.

“Ala Bolelo can be pronounced in any way you want. It has no meaning. It is gibberish. Director Nelson told me that the song should be gibberish and that it only needed to sound good. I don't know Malayalam. A large part of the song is gibberish,” he said.

He also referred to an earlier song from Nelson's ‘Kolamaavu Kokila’ to explain the kind of sound he was aiming for.

Also Read: Why is Jailer 2’s ‘Ala Bolelo’ promo facing backlash from Malayali fans?

“There is a song called ‘Kabiskabaa Coco’ in Kolamaavu Kokila. If you pay attention to its lyrics, you will understand that it is gibberish. The feel I wanted for ‘Ala Bolelo’ was what you get when you combine that song with ‘Kaavaalaa’ from Jailer,” Arunraja explained.

The lyricist said the song was written around its rhythm and sound. The idea, he explained, was to make something that people could sing along to without worrying about the meaning of every word.

“The song should have a rhythm. People singing it should be able to pick it up without thinking about its meaning. ‘Ala Bolelo’ was written in that metre,” he said.

According to Arunraja, much of the criticism came from listeners assuming that the lyrics were written in Malayalam.

“Many people objected because they thought this was a language. If it were a language, you could point out the grammatical mistakes in it. But this is not a language. The only intention was for the listeners to get the vibe,” he said.

He also made it clear that the song was not created with the intention of mocking or insulting anyone.

“There was no intention to insult or disrespect anyone. Since the story takes place in a part of Kerala, we gave it that kind of sound. The sound made people mistakenly assume that it was Malayalam. Only a few words such as ‘Eda Mone’ are actually correct. Everything else is gibberish,” Arunraja added.

Jailer 2 brings Rajinikanth back as Muthuvel Pandian

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, ‘Jailer 2’ sees Rajinikanth return as Muthuvel Pandian, the character he played in the first film.

The sequel has a major line-up of actors, including Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar, Vijay Sethupathi, Hrithik Roshan and Vinayakan. The first ‘Jailer’, also directed by Nelson, became a major success and Rajinikanth's return as Muthuvel Pandian has consequently created considerable interest among his fans.

Anirudh Ravichander is once again composing the music for the sequel, with ‘Jailer 2’ expected to retain the action-heavy flavour of the first film.

Apart from ‘Jailer 2’, Rajinikanth has another project in the pipeline. He will star in ‘Dharman’, which is being directed by Ashwath Marimuthu.