If actor Vishal had had his way, the audio launch of Aambala would have happened a little sedately. In the confines of a radio station perhaps; or better yet, on the grounds of his almamater. That Vishal decided to host the launch on a grand scale is a testament of his love for Hip Hop Tamizha Aadhi. As he put it, “Aadhi deserves to have a grand launch. We’re introducing him to the Tamil film industry as a music director and we wanted to give him the perfect stage and launch pad. He has given us six awesome songs in just a month. He certainly deserves it.”
The sentiment was echoed by the film’s director Sundar C as well. “Aadhi is a brat, but he is a very talented brat. Same time next year, he will be in a totally different league. It’s a pleasure to give him this opportunity as I will always be known as the guy who introduced Aadhi.”
Arya and T Siva too were enthralled by the youngster’s music. T Siva called Aadhi ‘a gift to the Tamil music industry’ and declared that the young man would go …places. Arya then claimed that he was the one who recommended Aadhi to Vishal. “I called up Vishal one day and told him to consider Aadhi as his music was just out of the world. I think I can take credit for Aadhi’s first project as well.”
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The focus of all this praise – Aadhi in a shiny veshti and shirt – looked on excitedly from his seat onstage. When it was time for him to speak, the crowd roared. The young man decided to wave at them on his way, and they roared again. He was bemused by all the attention and affection. “This is overwhelming for me,” he told us a little later. “I fought with my parents to come to Chennai and make it big. I didn’t succeed on my first attempt and went back home. When I came again to do my MBA, that’s when I succeeded. Club le happened and catapulted us into stardom,” he gushed. “It wouldn’t have happened if not for our fans. Yes, our fans. Most people think Hip Hop Tamizha is just me, but there’s another man in this group. Jeeva is the force behind our success, while I am the face.”
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Hip Hop Tamizha was initially asked to compose a single track for Aambala, but the duo was not interested. “We had grown tired of doing one song here and there. We told Sundar C sir very clearly – it was all or nothing!”
Sundar C warned them of the ‘huge task’ ahead, said Aadhi. “But we had decided to jump in, and so we jumped.”
Aadhi completed the recording at his studio in RA Puram in under a month. “The total cost of the recording was just 2500 rupees. Aadhi ate bajjis for Rs 2300 while Sundar C and I ate for the remaining two hundred rupees,” joked Vishal.
Vishal then thanked everyone for attending the launch and released the audio with the help of director Suseenthiran, Thiru, Arya, T Siva, Mansoor Ali Khan and a few other celebrities.
In case we’d forgotten by then, he reminded us again:
“Hip Hop Tamizha will go places!”
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