The Tamil song Aasa Kooda has been a whirlwind success, landing on 10 charts within 10 days, including becoming number two on the Indian Billboard Charts. Now shared widely and heard in countless Instagram reels, few realise that the lyrics were penned by a 21-year-old brought up in Australia, by the name of Sathyan Ilanko.
Aasa Kooda, which roughly translates to ‘growing desire,’ was sung by Sai Smriti and Sai Abhyankkar, who also composed the hit. It was the second song composed by Abhyankkar to attain global success.
Although it’s been a month since its release, Sathyan Ilanko is still reeling from the way the song has been received.
“I knew Aasa Kooda was a great song, but I did not expect it to be so popular,” Ilanko tells Indian Link. “I was worried when the song was released that it would be compared with [Abhyankkar’s] first song.”
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Clearly, there was no need to worry.
One look at the YouTube comments section and it is clear how many people have the lyrics stuck in their head, thanks especially to the upbeat nature of the song.
Ilanko laughs when he brings up a comment that he often receives.
“A lot of people ask why I wrote Pesa light ah aasa kooda and used the English word ‘light’ as opposed to using the Tamil word lesa, which has a similar meaning, and would have rhymed better.”
Clarifying, he says, “I wanted to keep the word ‘light’, because I thought it would be relatable to Tamil listeners who sometimes incorporate English words into their vocabulary. And there are so many songs with the word lesa anyways.”
His sensitivity to the cadences of the Tamil language and his awareness of modern Tamil lingo is a product of being engrossed in his culture from an early age. Usually, most parents would have to convince their children to attend language classes and to speak their mother tongue at home, however, Ilanko always had a passion for the language and was motivated to learn as much as he could.
“It doesn’t take that much effort to learn. There are so many resources that are easily accessible. Such as the Thirukkural.”
Written by poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar in 300 BC, the Thirukkural is a text which contains 1330 couplets filled with teachings on how to live.
“[The text is] helpful because there are times in songwriting where it can be difficult to find a word which accurately represents what I want to say, and which also rhymes with the other lines of verse,” he reveals.
Sathyan Ilanko seems to use the Thirukkural almost as a dictionary whenever he is stuck on a song, despite it being an ancient text.
“Using these dated words do not alienate my listeners,” he offers, adding, “Many artists within the independent music industry refer to older works for inspiration.”
From his perspective, music is the best way to reintroduce words which are commonly viewed as old-fashioned into mainstream vocabulary.
“Tamil is an ancient language and there have been so many times where I had to look back to these old words so that I could accurately describe the emotion that I wanted to write about.”
Ilanko started working in the music industry at an early age, with his passion supported by his parents who also have a musical background. He started out as a playback singer at the age of 16, but his career was interrupted by the pandemic. Now, he hopes to get back into the film industry whilst continuing to write his own music.
“All I want to do is keep working,” he says with enthusiasm. “I’m so grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way.”
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On top of his success with Aasa Kooda, he’s recently been featured on his idol Ratty Adiththan’s latest release, Nethu Adichu Sarakku. Another project with Lydian Nadhaswaram, who is a young artist who has interacted with big names such as A.R Rahman, is also in the works.
Sathyan Ilanko cites his collaboration with both Sai Abhyankkar and Ratty Adhiththan as vital to his growth.
“Collaboration involves trying to reconcile your vision with the ideas of other artists. But this can also make it easier to come up with new and clever ideas. I’m grateful for being able to work with these guys and I’ve learned so much from them,” he says.
Although it has seemed like a fairy-tale success story, Ilanko remains pragmatic about the future and is aware of the obstacles he may encounter.
“It can definitely be challenging to navigate the music industry, but I’m slowly learning along the way on how to manage the pressures I face.”
If there’s one thing that he’s learnt from the success of Aasa Kooda, it’s not to worry about whether it will be a hit amongst listeners.
“I didn’t expect anything of Aasa Kooda. I was just chilling while writing! The main thing, I believe, is to have fun.”
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