Anirudh Sings Rasagulla, the Second Single From Hi!

Rasagulla, the second single from Hi!, is out with its video, and the credit line is the story: Jen Martin composes, debutant director Vishnu Edavan writes the lyrics himself, and Anirudh Ravichander steps in as the voice. Getting Tamil cinema’s busiest composer to sing someone else’s melody is the kind of flex a debut film rarely manages, and it tells you how much goodwill this project is carrying.

The song itself is built for repeat play: a sugared word for a title, a melodic hook, Nayanthara in full colour against Kavin’s deliberately starched screen presence, and choreography by Brinda, who threads a classical dance texture through the retro staging. The video has been climbing the trending charts since it dropped, which is becoming a pattern for this film; the first single, Kanna Kuzhiya, has pulled close to three million views.

Hi! pairs Nayanthara and Kavin for the first time, with K. Bhagyaraj, Prabhu, Radikaa Sarathkumar, VTV Ganesh, Sathyan and Adithya Kathir filling out the cast. Rajesh Shukla shoots, Philomin Raj edits, and Nayanthara produces with Vignesh Shivan and S.S. Lalit Kumar. The film opens worldwide on August 14, and with three weeks to go the campaign is doing exactly what a no-villain family entertainer needs: making the pairing feel like the event.