Gemini (soundtrack)

"O Podu" was a popular expression among college students in Tamil Nadu.[10] When the director wanted a catchphrase for a song, Vairamuthu suggested using the term and building on it. On the director's insistence, the term was then incorporated into and mixed with the title song, resulting in the item number "O Podu".[11][12] The song was conceived by AVM as a way of reaching out to the masses.[13] The track, picturised on Rani and Vikram and choreographed by Ashok Raja, was sung by Anuradha Sriram.[14][15][16][17] For the song, Vikram performed "savu koothu", a type of funeral dance common in Tamil Nadu.[18] The lyrics of "Deewana", sung by Sadhana Sargam, had some Hindi words as it was picturised on the heroine, a typical Marwari woman from Sowcarpet for whom Hindi comes naturally.[11] In an interview with The Hindu, Vairamuthu revealed that the track "Naattu Katta" was based on a folk song.[lower-alpha 1]

Vikram, having already worked as a voice artist and singer, offered to sing his version of the song "O Podu" following the song's success, for which the producers agreed. According to Vikram, the song was recorded and filmed the same morning, and was added to the soundtrack album a month after its initial release. The film had been completed by then and the additional track was featured during the closing credits.[4] Initially, a small footage featuring Vikram and Kiran was sent to the cinemas for screening during the end credits. However, the audience were dissatisfied with the shortened version of the song and forced theatre owners to rewind the song and play it again. After receiving calls from distributors and theatre owners, the makers eventually sent the entire song.[4]

Filmfare Awards South[41]

• Best Music Director – Bharadwaj
• Best Playback Singer (Female) – Anuradha Sriram

International Tamil Film Awards[42][9]

• Best Playback Singer (Female) – Anuradha Sriram

Cinema Express Awards[43][7]

• Best Music Director – Bharadwaj
• Best Playback Singer (Female) – Anuradha Sriram

Following the song's success, Vikram was greeted everywhere with screams of "O Podu".[44][45] The success of the film prompted other film producers to capitalise on the growing popularity of the phrase "O Podu" and Vikram,[46] with the Telugu film Bava Nachadu (2001) was dubbed and released in Tamil as O Podu.[46] A game-based reality show for children, which was aired between 2003–2004, was titled "O Podu". AVM was involved in the show, which was produced by Vikatan Televistas and directed by Gerald. The show was broadcast for 26 weeks on Sun TV on Sundays with Raaghav as its anchor.[47][48] In September 2003, physical trainer Santosh Kumar played "O Podu" among a range of popular music as part of a dance aerobics session in a fitness camp held for the India national cricket team at Bangalore.[49]

During the run-up to the 2006 assembly election, Chennai-based journalist Gnani Sankaran began a social awareness movement to prevent electoral fraud and named it "O Podu" as a short form of "Oatu Podu" meaning "cast your vote".[50][51] The movement urged the electorate to exercise the right to reject candidates under Section 49-O of The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, wherein a voter, who has decided not to vote for anyone, can record the fact.[52] For this purpose, the people behind "O Podu" also urged the election commission to facilitate a separate button on the electronic voting machine.[52] During the 2010 Asia Cup, a Sri Lankan band performed "O Podu" at the India vs. Pakistan cricket match held in Dambulla.[53] In July 2011, Vikram inaugurated "Liver 4 Life", an initiative launched by MIOT Hospitals to create awareness of the Hepatitis B virus. As the campaign was targeted at school and college students, the organisers tweaked the term "O Podu" into "B Podu" and made it the event's tagline to capitalise on the song's immense appeal.[25][54]