#PrayForNeasamani: Why is Contractor Neasamani trending on Twitter?
Twitter has become a strange place where anything and anyone can trend for bizarre reasons. For the past few days, excavator machine brand JCB is trending on internet with plethora of #JCBKiKhudayi and #JCBMemes floating on social media. While we were unable to find the real reason behind this trend, another bizarre trend has popped up. Hashtag #Pray_for_Neasamani is trending on Twitter with people praying for Neasamani's speedy recovery. By Wednesday, it became one of the top trends on Twitter worldwide. While the people who knew about Neasamani joined the trend, the other lot of netizens asked who is Neasamani in the first place?
For those who don't know Neasamani is the character played by comedian Vadivelu in the Tamil hit film Friends in 2001. In the film, there was scene when a hammer accidentally falls on his head. But the film released in 2001 then why the character Contractor Neasamani is trending now in 2019?
The trend #Pray_for_Neasamani started on Twitter when a Pakistan-based meme page Civil Engineering Learners posted a question, "What is the name of the tool in your country?" posting a picture of a hammer. A Tamil cinema fan was quick to find the reference of the hammer with the famous Friends scene which had Contractor Neasamani injured.
In the scene mentioned above, Contractor Neasamani ends up being injured when an incompetent assistant drops a hammer on his head after failing to follow instructions. The scene was so hilarious that Tamil cinema fans remember it even after 18 years. Twitterati started asking the whereabouts of Neasamani aka Vadivelu. Soon #Pray_for_Neasamani became a worldwide trend with hilarious memes and jokes attached to it.
Even Tamil celebrities and several brands started making use of the hashtag and used them into their favour. Cricketer Harbhajan also tweeted for the speedy recovery of Neasamani and wrote, "My sweet friend has a great love for yellow turban. If only he can wear it today. Please come back."
Apollo Hospital was also pulled in this trend and fake medical bulletins of Neasamani's health updates started doing rounds on internet. Even Journalist couldn't refrain from writing about #Pray_for_Neasamani.
Politicians like DMK MLA TRB Rajaa wrote, "I am going to tonsure my head at 10 am.” He wrote that he will perform several other rituals to pray for Neasamani's speedy recovery.
Brands like KTV, an entertainment channel under Sun Network used it to promote another movie under Neasamani's name. CSK claimed that MS Dhoni could have save Neasamani's life with his supernatural powers.
Nippon India tweeted, "We so wish Krishnamurthy was as professionally trained as our PRO Store painters to have avoided causing this injury.
We wish Neasamani a speedy recovery. #Pray_For_Neasamani"
Vaduveli is one of the most renowned comedians in Tamil Nadu with excellent comic timing. He has been missing from films for the past few years but his previous films are still remembered by die-hard movie fans in Tamil Nadu. Watch that hilarious movie scene here.
