‘Meesaya Murukku 2’ film review: Hiphop Tamizha Adhi’s gaana-driven underdog tale struggles to find rhythm

Meesaya Murukku 2 has some basic ideas that would fill the first few pages of a Pa Ranjith or a Mari Selvaraj script, which explains how it opens: a traditionalist orthodox musician grabbing a recording chance that was otherwise meant for a rooted gaana artiste.

Here, we see characters named Das and Lakshmi from Royapuram, in true retro style, filling the theatre with lines in Madras baashai. Very soon, we cut to characters called Siva and Jeeva. What connects these people and why do they struggle to find success in this world?

In short, Meesaya Murukku 2 is actually Hip Hop Tamizha Adhi’sMugavari (2000), the Ajith film that had him struggling to become a music director. While that flick largely focussed on the protagonist’s internal struggles and ego clashes, this 2026 film wants to champion the cause of gaana music, shed light on class and caste conflicts and drag in nepo-kid culture in music and cinema… All the while trying to make an entertaining film.

It unfortunately isn’t. Somewhere in the pursuit of packing all these elements into what essentially is a rise of the underdog story, Meesaya Murukku 2 falters.

The film wastes serious time in the first half trying to appeal to Gen-Z sections of the audience, touching upon aspects of toxicity, mental health and LGBT issues rather loosely and without delving deep into them. This is why the supposed ‘love failure’ track has absolutely no weight.

What also has little heft is the number of characters Adhi himself plays: he is Das and Tiger Siva and Jeeva in different stages of the film. With little make-up to differentiate between these three, it becomes difficult to concentrate on the multiple character and time period shifts.

When it’s not trying to be whimsical, Meesaya Murukku 2 is raising some important issues about the functioning of the music industry, especially before the technology boom when there was no level playing field. Today, when Reels and Shorts showcase talents from across the world, it might be difficult to comprehend a world that saw social status and caste as barriers for performance platforms. Meesaya Murukku 2 also sheds light on the gaana culture, an integral part of Chennai’s social fabric. This comes to fore in a pivotal sequence in the second half when a child breaks into a gaana track in the middle of an orthodox household that celebrates Carnatic music.

I wished the film offered more weightage and flavour to this core conflict rather than make everything about the lead actor’s dogged persistence in the arts and dialogues about societal change. Sure, there are moments of triumph, but when the film tends to make every sequence about ‘dreams come true’, it points to weak writing. Actor Karunas (playing Das) excels in a stirring sequence when he talks about unfulfilled dreams, that ends in a warm embrace between a father and son. The silence in that single scene speaks louder than the beats of gaana.

I also missed late actor Vivekh from the first part, but Baba Baskar does a fairly effective portrayal as an naïve father struggling to understand the Gen-Z vibe. When he asks his son at the mention of dating apps: ‘Why do you want to look for a date on a mobile app when there’s a calendar at home?’ If you chuckled at that line, maybe you’ll dig this.

Karunas and Hiphop Tamizha in ‘Meesaya Murukku 2’

For a film that tries to make a point about a discriminative system present in the music industry that shuts the door on individuals from marginalised backgrounds, Meesaya Murukku needed far more grip on direction and story arc (Hiphop Tamizha is credited as director, music director and is, of course, the lead actor).

He is also the lyric writer for most of the songs. In the opening song, he conjures a catchy tune with rhyming words like ‘Lakshmi, touch me’ and ‘station, fashion’. In the superhit ‘Aura 10/10’, he rhymes ‘lit’ with ‘favourite’ and ‘suthu’ with ‘worthu’. An entire row in the theatre I caught the film in stood up to perform the now-famous hook step… And why not? Why can’t music be fun? When everyone is dancing, why complain?