Naveen Richard on why coronavirus looks like a pervert in viral song: ‘Wasn’t supposed to be creepy but infectious’

Comedian Naveen Richard’s My Name Is Corona has gone viral amid the pandemic. He, however, maintains the song’s purpose is to educate in an entertaining way.

From Cardi B’s Coronavirus mix to bhajan singer Narendra Chanchal’s Kittho Aaya Corona, the world is grooving to bops on the deadly disease. Comedian Naveen Richard has also produced a song on Covid-19, which will soon touch a million views on YouTube.

Naveen Richard plays Coronavirus in My Name Is Corona.

The song video, titled My Name Is Corona, shows Naveen as the personification of the virus, ‘a viral Casanova’. He tries to seduce a petrified man, and boasts of how he has travelled from ‘China to Barcelona’.

Even though virus claims he’ll enter their body and make the host ‘ very snotty’, Naveen claims it wasn’t supposed to look as perverted as it did.

“Well the virus is also a little scary. I think he’s kinda …what’s the word…sensual really. But I hate to say that it came off as creepy. It wasn’t supposed to be creepy but infectious. So anybody it touches would not really like it,” he told Hindustan Times in an interview.

The coronavirus has killed more than 21,000 people around the world and is considered among the biggest challenges faced by humanity in 21st century. Making light of such a disaster can often hit the wrong note. However, Naveen insists the video is educational at its core.

“Of course when you are making this song, we took an approach that we made sure that the song wasn’t belittling the situation. So if I had taken a different approach, I could have basically made fun that ‘Oh people are freaking out for no reason’, which is not true. People are freaking out the right amount. If I had taken that angle, it would have been irresponsible,” he said.

The video also had a ticker running underneath: ‘This video is not supposed to be taken seriously although it does not mean to take away from the seriousness of the issue. Please visit a doctor to ask for actual advice though.’

Naveen said the video show people what to do to prevent the infection. “So the song actually has some stuff about washing your hands, not touching strangers. It’s an entertaining way of teaching people. And it happens to be catchy. See everyone around the world is making this kind of music. And I didn’t want to cash in on it,” he said.

Naveen, born in Tamil Nadu and currently living in Bengaluru, was recently seen in his Amazon Prime standup up special, Relatively Relatable. In it, he talked about a variety of random things that connect Indians and also a few that we impose on each other. Naveen addresses the imposition of Hindi on South Indian states in his new show.

“Everybody has their opinion about it in Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, Kerala and all of these place. I know how strong these people feel about all this. Nobody wants something to be forced on them. Also, nobody likes change, not always the change is good,” he said.

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