HipHop Tamizha Adhi on ‘Meesaya Murukku 2’: ‘I Don’t See Acting and Direction as Separate Roles’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Tamil rap star HipHop Tamizha Adhi’s musical “Meesaya Murukku 2” releases on September 25, with the actor-musician taking on the lead role. Confident about the film’s box-office prospects, he speaks to Variety India about how the sequel differs from the original, his experience revisiting the franchise, and why he chose to draw from his own life while shaping the story. 

‘Meesaya Murukku’ drew heavily from your college days. Does ‘Meesaya Murukku 2’ continue that story or is it an entirely new world?

The first was my biopic; it was the story of a musician, while the second is the story of music. It talks about art and what happens to an artist. It is a more evolved version of the first part. I drew inspiration from the real lives of different artists in the Gana genre. Gana is a street art form that originated in Chennai. It closely resembles pop in terms of culture. This film is about the Gana genre, while the first film focused on hip hop.

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You turned your journey as an aspiring musician into a film with ‘Meesaya Murukku 2.’ What inspired you to do that? 

I came from nothing. I had no connections, no background in films. I started on the stage, then I started posting videos on YouTube. At one point, when I was trying to become an artist, I faced several hardships. My album, “HipHop Tamizhan” (2012), is India’s first Tamil hip-hop album. I wanted to share my story with people. So, I decided to make a movie about my life with my friends. The movie had about 15 newcomers. The movie’s purpose was to show that if you have a dream, you can succeed. You just have to hustle.

Since ‘Meesaya Murukku’ was a huge hit, there are a lot of expectations from the sequel. Does that add to the pressure?

I’m super confident that we will succeed. The two films basically have the same soul. “Meesaya Murukku” was a huge hit because it spoke about life in a way that relates to everybody. And ‘Meesaya Murukku 2’ will talk about life in a much more evolved way, because back then I was a young artist trying to hustle my way to the top. It was fun but philosophically less evolved. But this film has double the fun, entertainment and emotional quotient. So we’re extremely confident this movie will find its way into people’s hearts. Some films are not judged by success or failure. I think this is one such movie. 

Anandita Sundar is the executive producer of this film. How did she help bring your vision for the sequel to life? 

I pretty much knew what I wanted. Anandita facilitated everything. She brought in the artists that I wanted. She handled all the logistics. This movie’s a lot bigger than the first part, in terms of scale, size, artists and everything else. I had a bigger vision, and Anandita was able to pull it off. She did a great job. 

You’re acting in and directing the film. What do you find more exciting and how challenging is it to direct yourself?

I see art from a very different perspective. For me, I don’t differentiate these things. I started as a rapper. So, I used to direct my own music videos, not because there were no directors, but because we had no resources. So, we basically learned to shoot and act at the same time. At one point, we had to turn the camera on, come in front of it, rap and then cut. That’s how we started our journey. So, I see it as executing an art form. I don’t see acting and direction as separate roles. I’m writing my rhymes on celluloid. That’s how I view this process.