CHENNAI: I could connect with people more on YouTube than in real life; it’s like I found my home there,” says Subhalaxmi, as we begin our conversation. Candid and comfortable despite coping with a slight flu, her enthusiasm for life jumps out at us with every word. She is just like her online persona that we’ve all grown familiar with by now. “I’m actually an introvert in real life. I take time to get comfortable with people!” she laughs, but it’s hard to believe it.
Born in Odisha, raised in Chennai, Subhalaxmi Parida has had a multi-cultural upbringing. With a father who cracks jokes all the time, Subhalaxmi has humour, comedy and a certain cheekiness embedded in her DNA. It was only natural she made a career in that field after she completed her education. “Lilly Singh is my biggest inspiration. I could easily connect with her,” she says.
Wanting to be someone just as connect-able for others like her, she decided to pay homage to her innate comic sense and start a channel too. After she completed college last year, she started her channel, The Cheeky DNA, and got into it seriously. She does this full-time and her parents support her completely! Wait…whaaat? “Yes!” she laughs. “My dad is the non-stop comedian in my house! That also incidentally helps me generate ideas.”
The Cheeky DNA aptly describes her quirky personality and her love for zoology, in which she is pursuing a Master’s degree. Her videos are full of relatable comedy, highlighting everyday humour that we all see at home. And all of them are in Tamil which makes it even better. She easily flits between impersonating her anxious and chiding mother in When Indian moms have guests coming over to acting out the various kinds of delivery boys we all encounter at some point, from flirty to creepy to chatty and clueless.
Her own personal favourite one which she loved shooting, she says, is Rain holiday announcement scenes.
“I incorporated a lot of different perspectives in that one — including personifying a pair of flip-flop slippers too! It was fun,” she laughs.
Subhalaxmi does everything from writing the script to shooting and editing, which she learned from YouTube. Script-writing takes 3-4 hours, while shooting takes 3-6 hours depending on a number of costume changes etc. “My brother is my personal critic, always telling me when it’s not good. He also helped me out with the technical aspects,” she says.
Do her parents watch her videos? “Yes, my dad says that I speak too fast. And as for my mom, I have told her not to watch it in front of me. So whenever I hear her laugh at home, I know she’s watching me,” she laughs.
All humour aside, Subhalaxmi says she gives due importance to mental health, highlighting how in her earlier stages of life, society would be highly judgmental of every single thing women do. “That’s why I became an introvert, hiding from people’s judgements,” she says.
And when she learned that it is important to be comfortable in one’s own skin, she tries to propagate the same through her videos. How does she handle troll comments? “Usually, when people are undergoing hardships in life, they tend to not like seeing others happy. I stopped letting it affect me and focus on the good comments,” she says.
Subhalaxmi plans to start making videos on ‘How to choose a career’ and other informative videos. “We are all ill-informed. When in school, we don’t know what course to choose in college, and likewise after college, we don’t know what to work in,” she rues, saying she will start that after some more years of experience.
Subhalaxmi decoded
Favourite comedians: Lilly Singh for her positivity, Abhish Mathew
Happiest moment from your channel: When Tamil Nadu weatherman shared my video, Rain holiday announcement scenes in which I impersonated him too
Best compliment: People tell me my videos make their day happy
Future goals: I want to do a show like Ellen DeGeneres someday
Watch the Cheeky DNA on YouTube channel of the same name. Facebook: The Cheeky DNA