Kerala rapper Hanumankind kick starts Tudum 2025 with hit ‘Run It Up’; Indian fans beam with pride: ‘Malayali from…’

Netflix Tudum 2025: The streaming giant Netflix hosted the grand annual event on May 31 at Los Angeles' Kia Forum and the OTT platform dropped a major surprise for Indian fans as rapper Hanumankind kicked off the night in style.

The singer from Kerala, kickstarted the global fiesta with his popular hit rap song Run It Up, which marked one of the two major live performances. Squid Game pink guards in the foreground added to the fiery atmosphere. Earlier, the rapper, whose real name is Sooraj Cherukat, collaborated with Netflix and co-wrote the song The Game Don't Stop for Squid Game Season 2.

Netflix in a post on Instagram stated, “Red light, green light, Hanumankind @hanumankind just opened #TUDUM!”

Watch Hanumankind perform at Tudum 2025 here:

Social media reaction

Social media users strongly reacted to Hanumankind's Tudum 2025 performance as one user stated, “Rapper from India.” Another user remarked, “I'm not into hiphop but watching Indians going to places in a surreal feeling.”

A third user commented, “Malayali from India.” A fourth user stated, "That proud moment." A fifth user wrote, “Hanumankind and Gaga stole the show.”

The other major highlight of the night was a live performance by Lady Gaga. The 39-year-old singer will feature as a guest star on Wednesday Season 2. She will reportedly enact the role of mysterious Rosaline Rotwood - a legendary Nevermore teacher.

During the grand event, highly anticipated premiere dates and trailer of popular TV shows and movies were announced. One of the major big announcements were that of Squid Game and Stranger Things 5 trailer release, premiere dates of Stranger Things season 5and a 6-minute preview of Wednesday Season 2.

Hanumankind become the third Indian artist to debut at the Coachella music festival, who performed his biggest hits, like ‘Big Dawgs,’ ‘Run it up’ and ‘Go to sleep' tracks live.