IPL 2023: How DJ Zen created magical moments for MS Dhoni with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan hits

DJ Zen, who performed viral hits for MS Dhoni at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram stadium

MS Dhoni strides onto the bottom. DJ Zen pushes a button.

1000’s of followers, all wearing yellow at Chepauk stadium, go wild.

This has been a well-recognized sight for Chennai’s cricket lovers on this version of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Enjoying superhit Tamil cinema tracks to go along with every participant, particularly Dhoni, DJ Zen — manning the console at IPL for the primary time — has been making numerous noise, fairly actually.

If it was ‘Once upon a time, there lived a ghost’ from Kamal Haasan’s Vikramthroughout the begin of the season, it was the Vishwaroopam monitor that accompanied Dhoni’s stroll to the crease within the final league part. Rajinikanth’s iconic Tamil ‘introduction numbers’ added to the goosebump-inducing moments as effectively.

KC Senthil Kumar aka DJ Zen is the person behind this magic. “This IPL has been most memorable for me,” says Zen over a phone name, “I’m happy that I have played a small part in enhancing some tremendous cricketing moments on the ground.”

Whereas songs being performed on the IPL usually are not new, this 12 months, MS Dhoni’s entry into the stadium has been among the many most-anticipated moments this season. DJ Zen plans for that essential 1-minute 15-seconds-long celebration with utmost element. “Dhoni takes an additional few seconds to prepare, and that offers the viewers time to cheer after which calm down, earlier than he faces the ball. When he enters, we go along with music, as a result of the bottom is anyway very noisy then. When he takes to the pitch, we play the lyrics , in order that the viewers relate to him. “

DJ Zen at Chepauk
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

He’s referring to tracks from hit Tamil movies reminiscent of Padayappa, Baasha and Vikram, which not solely have peppy music but in addition lyrics that match the state of affairs that sport is poised at. So, when Shivam Dube hits a few sixes, Zen performed ‘Doobey Doobey’ from Gehraiyaan. Or when Ravindra Jadeja begins batting, he went with a melody like ‘Mannipaaya’ (Will you forgive me?), primarily based on what the southpaw stated in an on-ground interview within the final match.

From AR Rahman to Anirudh, tracks from many composers have been performed at Chepauk this season. And Chennai’s audiences, with a fascination for all issues cricket and cinema, had been having fun with the revelry.

“As a DJ, it helps if you are a cricket fan. I have, for instance, been following the sport for many years, thanks to my father’s keen interest. While I am focussed on the job at hand, I am also keenly following the match proceedings, which helps me really enjoy my work,” says Zen, who shortlisted round 100 to 150 copyright-free songs from all languages IPL started.

Zen reveals that he chooses a monitor for the entry of each participant — but in addition has to rapidly adapt if there’s a change in who’s strolling in to bat. The DJ workforce has the workforce sheet, but in addition has a telephone with a most zoom lens prepared, in order that they’ll see which participant is strolling in, and rapidly play the suitable monitor. “The players themselves might not understand some of this, because they are Tamil songs, but the audiences get it, and that’s my success,” says Zen.

For Zen, who hails from Tirunelveli and can be a visible artist, IPL 2023 has been an enormous platform. “Social media has played a big role in reaching out the on-ground experience to millions who are not physically present,” he says. His Instagram video of the Dhoni entry with music from Padayappa has garnered greater than 10 million views on Instagram alone. He provides, “In the TV broadcast, the audience might miss the music due to advertisement breaks, but the atmosphere on the ground is something magical.”