Meesaya Murukku

Meesaya Murukku (transl. Twirl your moustache) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi in his directorial debut. Aadhi also stars as the lead along with newcomer Aathmika as the female lead, while Vivek, RJ Vigneshkanth, and Vijayalakshmi play supporting roles. The film, a partly fictionalised biopic of Adhi's early life, was released on 21 July 2017. It was remade in Kannada in 2019 as Padde Huli. This movie is dubbed in Hindi as Dashing Khiladi 4.

Meesaya Murukku
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi
Produced by	Sundar C. Kushboo (Presenter)
Written by	Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi
Based on	Hiphop Tamizha's life (upto 2014)
Starring	Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi Aathmika Vivek RJ Vigneshkanth Vijayalakshmi
Narrated by	Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi
Music by	Hiphop Tamizha
Cinematography	U. K. Senthil Kumar Kiruthi Vasan
Edited by	Fenny Oliver
Production company	Avni Cinemax Avni Movies
Distributed by	Rock Fort Entertainment
Release date	21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Coimbatore-based Aadhi and Jeeva have been close friends since childhood. Aadhi's father Professor Ramachandran is very supportive of his interests in music and extra-curriculars. Aadhi joins an electrical engineering after school and falls in love with his college mate, Nila who was his childhood friend. Nila is from an affluent family, and her parents are against love. Despite Nila's reservations, she too falls in love with Aadhi.

Aadhi is well known in college for his Tamil raps, and he owns a YouTube page "Hiphop Tamizha". Weeks before their Final exams, Nila's family comes to know her relationship with Aadhi. Nila's rich father and uncle threaten Aadhi's family to break his love. After graduating, Aadhi expresses his interest to move to Chennai and become an independent musician, to his father; for which he also faces opposition. Aadhi convinces his father, promising that he will return within a year if he cannot succeed. Aadhi also promises Nila that he will seek a job after one year and marry her. Both Nila and Aadhi's dad accept his promises with half-heart, and Aadhi's father does not provide financial support to him.

Aadhi and Jeeva reach Chennai with instruments. They stay with their college seniors and try hard for opportunities, but all efforts fail. A year passes by, and the duo decide to return to Coimbatore. Before departure, Aadhi and Jeeva meet Ma Ka Pa Anand of Radio Mirchi, who allows him to sing "Club Le Mabbu Le" in his show, following which they come to Coimbatore.

As per his father's advice, Aadhi enrolls for an MBA degree in Chennai. Suddenly, he finds that video of "Club Le Mabbu Le" has gone heavily viral in social media, and has drawn thousands of fan followers. Aadhi's hope is revived, and he decides to continue looking for an opportunity in the music industry and also promises his father that he will complete his post-graduation. At the same time, a big music company approaches Aadhi for a paid concert in Chennai.

Since Nila has not consented to any marriage proposals, Nila's father threatens her with his suicide and arranges a wedding for her. Aadhi gets shocked knowing that Nila's parents have fixed a wedding for her. Aadhi covertly meets Nila and requests to wait for another year, for which Nila does not agree, replying that she had already waited for a year, and all is over. Aadhi gets heartbroken and leaves to Chennai. Nila is married as per her parents' wishes, while Aadhi becomes a popular personality in hip-hop music and in 5 years Aadhi and Jeeva become famous music directors in cinema.

Cast

• Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi as Adhithya (Adhi)
• Aathmika as Vinnila (Nila), Aadhi's love interest
• Vivek as Ramachandran, Aadhi's father
• RJ Vigneshkanth as Jeeva, Aadhi's friend
• Vijayalakshmi as Amma, Aadhi's mother
• Ma Ka Pa Anand as R.J Ma Ka Pa
• Ananth Ram as Ashwin (Thambi), Aadhi's brother
• Gajaraj as Mama, Nila's uncle
• Sha Ra as M.Balaji M.Tech. alias Bijili
• Madras Central Muthu as Nirmal alias Mottai
• Pradeep K Vijayan as Marshal
• Guhan Prakash as Arun
• Poovendan as Markandeyan
• Smile Settai Anbuthasan as Sanjay
• Hari Hara Krishnan as Vishnu
• Thameem Ansari as Shraavan
• Vinoth Kumar as Sudhakar Anna
• Fenny Olivier as Ram
• Madras Central Gopi in cameo appearance
• Madras Central Sudhakar in cameo appearance
• Bharathan Kumanan (assistant director) in a cameo appearance
• Vishal in a cameo appearance in Aambala music teaser video
• Sundar C. (producer) in a cameo appearance in Aambala music teaser video

Production

Development

In August 2013, Aadhi, the lead singer of Hiphop Tamizha (HHT) revealed that he had been signed as lead for a full-length feature film based on HHT which was expected to released by the mid of 2014. He also stated that there was a search for a suitable director to helm the spec script.[1] During October 2016, a 90–second teaser was released on HHT's official YouTube channel,[2] as news emerged that the film being titled as "Meesaya Murukku" produced by N. Ramasamy and Hema Rukmani for Thenandal Studio Limited, who green lit the project within five minutes of his narration and insisted him to perform as lead actor, after being impressed with his video song on Jallikattu, "Takkaru Takkaru".[3] Apart from debuting as actor in a full-length role, Adhi also serves as writer and director besides composing the score and writing lyrics for the film.[4] In the press meet before release of the film, Sundar C confirmed that it was partly biographical of Adhi's life.[5] The film's title is derived from a phrase Adhi's father would often tell his son: "Thothalum jeythalum, meesaya murukku" (win or lose, always twirl your moustache).[6]

Adhi has stated that while Meesaya Murukku is "predominantly based on real incidents", such as his five friends from the film and the character Sudhakaran being based on real people, certain liberties were taken to make the film commercially viable.[7] The film depicts Adhi and Jeeva as having been childhood friends,[6] whereas in reality, the duo met via Orkut in 2005, when they were teenagers.[8]

Casting

As revealed in 2013, Adhi continued to be lead actor and chose Aathmika to pair for him, after coming across her Facebook profile.[3] The film also features Vivek and Vijayalakshmi in supporting roles, where the former plays the father of Adhi's character.[9][10][11] The film features a mostly new cast and crew as per Adhi's wishes, with being Vivek the only established actor.[12]

Filming

Though pre-production began in August 2013,[1] the film, as of October 2016, was reported to have completed 45 days of shoot with two songs left to be shot.[3] Filming ended by early November 2016.[13]

Music

Meesaya Murukku
Soundtrack album by Hiphop Tamizha
Released	14 April 2017
Recorded	2014–2017
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Language	Tamil
Label	Think Music Trend Music Avni Music
Producer	Hiphop Tamizha
Hiphop Tamizha chronology
Kavan (2017) Meesaya Murukku (2017) Kalakalappu 2 (2018)

Adhi composed the music of the film. A promotional song, "Sait Ji", was released in late 2016.[14] Although it became a viral hit on YouTube, Sundar C. received a legal notice from Ashok G Lodha of Shri All India Shwetamber Sthanakwasi Jain Conference. Lodha objected to the words "Sait Ji", meaning "affluent trader", and demanded that they be removed from the song, feeling it was "a classic example of abuse of the (Jain) community in the name of creativity and art." Sundar C obliged, and had the words removed not only from the song, but also from the finished film,[15] and the word Saitji was replaced by Great ji.[16] The YouTube video itself was deleted later.[17][18]

All lyrics are written by Hiphop Tamizha.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Great Ji"	Hiphop Tamizha	4:21
2.	"Machi Enggalukku Ellam"	Hiphop Tamizha	2:29
3.	"Enna Nadanthalum"	Kaushik Krish, Hip Hop Tamizha	4:05
4.	"Maatikichu"	Mahalingam, Hip Hop Tamizha	3:17
5.	"Vaadi Nee Vaadi"	Rajan Chelliah, Hip Hop Tamizha	3:05
6.	"Meesaya Murukku – Title Track"	Kharesma Ravichandran, Hiphop Tamizha	3:42
7.	"Sakkarakatti"	Hiphop Tamizha	3:09
8.	"Vaadi Pulla Vaadi(Additional Song)"	Hiphop Tamizha	4:30
Total length:			28:38

Release and reception

Meesaya Murukku was released on 21 July 2017 to positive reviews.[19] Sify stated, "Meesaya Murukku is a decent debut directorial and heroic outing from Adhi, the film clicks mainly because of the real life connect.".[20] The film grossed ₹12.0 million from 147 shows during its first week.[21] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote, "Meesaya Murukku could have been a celebration of Tamil-ness [...] But the film, frustratingly, settles into an uninspired chronicle of college life: ragging, lusting for biriyani, cultural events, and romance [...] Meesaya Murukku has a few moments, but it’s neither an effective romance nor a convincing coming-of-age drama."[22]

Remake

The film was remade in Kannada as Padde Huli (2019).[23]

References

1. "Breaking: Hip Hop Tamizha Aadhi to turn hero!". Behindwoods. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
2. Meesaya Murukku Official Teaser – Hiphop Tamizha – Avni Movies. YouTube (Teaser) (in Tamil). Hiphop Tamizha. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
3. Janani, K (10 October 2016). "Hip Hop Adhi is an actor now!". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
4. "ஹிப்ஹாப் ஆதியின் ‛மீசைய முறுக்கு டீசர் வெளியீடு" [Release of Hiphop Tamizha's "Meesaya Murukku" teaser]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 10 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
5. "Meesaya Murukku is sort of Aadhi's biography: Sundar C". www.deccanchronicle.com/. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
6. "How Tamil hip-hop sensation Adhi went from controversy's child to unlikely film star". Hindustan Times. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
7. "Meesaya Murukku actor Hip Hop Adhi: Cinema is my profession but independent music is my passion". 6 August 2017.
8. deeaarbee. "English Pesnalum Tamizhan Da — A Hip Hop Tamizha Exclusive". guindytimes.com. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
9. "Watch: 'Meesaya Murukku' teaser starring Hiphop Tamizha". The Times of India. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
10. Arvind, Sundaram (10 October 2016). "Vivek's transformation for Karthi & Hip Hop Adhi". Behindwoods. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
11. "Hip Hop Tamizha Meesaiya Murukku release updates". Top 10 Cinema. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
12. "'Meesaya Murukku' is Adhi's biography, says producer Sundar C." Sify. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
13. "'Meesaya Murukku'". Sify. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
14. "Shankar all praise for Adhi's song". The Times of India. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
15. "Producer to remove 'abusive' term from Tamil movie song | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India.
16. "Sait ji song lyric changed to Great ji in Hiphop Tamizha's Meesaya Murukku". Behindwoods. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
17. http://newstodaynet.com/entertainment/hip-hop-removessaitji-song-youtube
18. "Rapping it up like Hiphop Tamizha Adhi". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
19. "Meesaya Murukku review roundup: Hiphop Tamizha infuses life in this coming of age film". Firstpost. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
20. "Meesaya Murukku review: Clicks mainly because of real life connect". Sify.
21. Upadhyaya, Prakash. "Vikram Vedha 1st weekend box office collection: Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi's film off to a good start". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
22. Rangan, Baradwaj (8 August 2017). "Meesaya Murukku Movie Review". Film Companion. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
23. "Producer K Manju's son Shreyas to make a debut with Paddehuli". Bangalore Mirror.

External links

• Meesaya Murukku on IMDb
• Meesaya Murukku on Facebook
• Meesaya Murukku on Twitter