Within a week of its release, Unakkagave Irukkindrar– the Tamil version of the well-known worship song The Blessing, made it to 14k+ views on YouTube (and still growing). During an exclusive interview with the woman who initiated this project Amazing Grace Cruz aka Amaze (no pun intended), told us how this season was a “season of worship and declaration” for her. The main motive behind releasing The Blessing in Tamil was for the Tamil community – from kids to parents, to small businessmen, to frontline workers – for everyone to be able to sing it and declare it in their local language too.
The original song was a personal declaration for Amaze. She also mentioned how the Bible verse Malachi 4: 6 has been the “theme of my (her) heart” especially for this generation. She wants to see the Word of God being proclaimed and declared in every generation.
This song was sung by six gracious worshippers and was translated by Thanga Selvam, Prakruthi Angelina, and Amaze herself. While sharing the song’s translation process, she mentioned that all of the people involved in the translation process only knew how to speak in Tamil, not read or write in Tamil script. Despite that, the translation process was easy and quick. She also added, “…none of us met each other before”. It was entirely God connecting them and bringing them together for this “Holy Spirit inspired, Kingdom project”.
When asked whether it was easy or difficult for all the singers, musicians, director, editor, videographers and the entire crew to come together virtually and plan, Amaze said it was a hustle yet a fun experience and adds how grateful she was to God for the technology He blessed our generation with.
The visuals of this music video were one aspect that left everyone in awe. When asked about the video clips that were a part of the music video, Amaze told us that the entire crew of the videographers had the visuals ready within 14 days of lockdown!! There were a total of 6 videographers and out of them, 4 of the videographers had done those scenic shots outdoors. A non-Christian who was a part of the crew said he’s never seen something this cool before! It was something very unusual yet really worth it for this project.
Before releasing this version of the song, Amaze and the entire team had to reconsider if they were certainly sure that they wanted to put it out there for the world to listen. The question “Why another Blessing?” echoed in their minds and they questioned whether it would be worth all their hard work. But they also knew that Blessing can’t get boring! So they decided to go ahead.
Even after being delayed by two months, and the stress and anxiety starting to set in, the entire team still did not want to give up and they gave their best! No one would need to think twice to say how hard the entire team worked to bring us a beautiful Tamil version of ‘The Blessing’ aka ‘Unakkagave Irukkindrar’.
“Although I don’t know the language I am obsessed with listening to this version of The Blessing! I cry as I listen, it’s so beautiful! Thank you! My heart is touched for India.” says Ms. Maria Rivera on this music video.
It was a “challenging benchmark” to be set but everyone on the team was up for this challenge.
And the most surprising part of this project was when this song received a huge amount of appreciation from the non-Tamilian community!
This song was sung by Amazing Grace Cruz, Giftson Durai, Nehemiah Kulothungan, Thanga Selvam, Prem Anand, Prakruthi Angelina, produced by Giftson Durai, directed by Ricky Raymond, Outcast Media and edited by Gershom Arul. Keba Jeremiah played the guitar accompanied by Nikil Ram on the flute. The talented videographers who worked on this project were Gershom Arul, Jagan Matthew, Jehu Christian, Jerry Christopher, Manviel Bhasker, Rohit Guntur.
You can find the lyrics to this beautiful song on Worship Cry (https://www.worshipcry.com/) – A unique collaboration between Outcast and Christian Music India – your one-stop platform for Indian Worship Music resources. Do not forget to check the music video too on Amazing Grace Cruz’s YouTube channel.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjp79_kANEg)
Also, we would love to hear about how this song has blessed you or your church personally. Do let us know in the comment section below.
Article By Salome Sundilla
Credits – Nithin Raj | Adit Abraham
