Why this accident, traffic jamming, pollution ji.’

Sounds familiar? Here’s yet another version of Kolaveri Di. Only this one has been penned and set to music by somewhat unlikely composers — the Pune traffic police! Cashing in on the success of the number that became a rage all over, the Pune Traffic Police has come up with its own version of the song to create traffic awareness among people. At present, the video for the song, Why this accident, traffic jamming, pollution ji, is being edited, and it will be uploaded on the internet in two days.

“We wanted to do something that would attract instant attention. Seeing the popularity of Kolaveri Di, we decided to make a song based on it,” said Vishwas Pandhare, deputy commissioner (traffic). The lyrics, a combination of Hindi, Marathi and English words, stress on the need of driving safely. Pandhare has penned the lyrics along with Vijay Palsule, inspector (planning and administration) and two civilians.

The initiative was conceptualised around 15 days ago. The recording of the song was done at city-based Shivranjani Studio. “It is sung by Jeetendra Bhurukh. While a team of four musicians worked on the track, I took care of arranging music and recording,” said Omkar Kelkar from Shivranjani Studio.

Though a part of the video has been shot in the recording studio, the rest was shot on city roads like Neelayam Talkies Chowk, Swargate, Singhagad Road, Shankar Sheth Road, Sonya Maruti Chowk and Fergusson College Road. “The idea was to shoot at places that witness heavy traffic. We have also shot commuters breaking rules,” said Manoj Gokhale, who shot the video.

Special care has been taken on the use of appropriate words so that it gels with the original soundtrack. So you have lines like:

“Follow signal in a chowk,

Zebra crossing for a walk,

Use belt in a car,

Use helmet on a head...

You can also call it changing tracks to make themselves heard.

Jingles all the way