Tubing their way into hearts and onto screens
BENGALURU: Social network YouTube is bringing its annual flagship event, FanFest, to Bengaluru for the very first time, to celebrate the ‘creators’ - the official for people who have popular YouTube channels — from the city. CE got in touch with a few creators and performers from Bengaluru at the fifth edition of FanFest.
‘youtube got me Bigg Boss’
Kannada creator Kirik Keerthi will be participating at the fest for the first time. He will be performing a three-minute song on deforestation. He says, “No one has performed in Kannada yet. There will be subtitles on an LED screen.” Keerthi’s first rap song, Namma Bengaluru has received more than 13 lakh views. “When I go to schools and colleges, I still perform this song,” he says. The actor and social activist has more than 70k subscribers. He says it’s through social media, especially YouTube, that he got offers in films and on Bigg Boss.
“I have anchored more than 500 shows on TV, but it is only after my YouTube channel that people started recognising me,” he says. In 2016, his video on powercuts went viral in a week. He adds that the platform has helped him with different causes, such as when the Chennai floods happened. “I was able to provide food and supplies worth `6 to `7 lakh for the people in Chennai,” he says.
‘We go to concerts to judge people’
Jordindian, the brainchild chaneel of two Bengalureans, will be hosting FanFest in the city. The founders, Naser Al Azzeh and Vineeth Kumar, say they will make sure that the audience has a good time. “It’s very humbling. We haven’t attended a Fanfest yet, not even as part of the audience,” says Naser. Ask why they decided to start a YouTube channel, Naser says, “We were unemployed and didn’t have anything to do. We had lot of free time,” they say laughing. Vineeth adds, “We noticed that there was a lot of bad content in the digital space. There were pranks, comedy and rants on YouTube, which got about 10 million likes. So we thought that if we could manage to get at least 15 million likes with 10k good videos on our channel, it would be great.”
The duo named their channel Jordindian, as “I am from Jordan and Vineet is from India,” says Naser. They kicked off with a one-minute or two-minute ‘Types of People’ videos on their channel. “These videos work a lot with the audience. We got good feedback,” says Vineet. “Also, you can shoot the concept with any number of characters and situations. Usually, it is one narrative people have for a video with about two characters. With these kinds of videos, you can have five different concepts,” explains Naser. Now, they opt for longer video formats with about seven-minute sketches.
Vineeth says, “Initially, we used to hold the camera ourselves or get one more person to hold it while we were shooting. Now, we have a bigger team to work with us, and hence, we do longer formats. Also, people commented asking for longer videos.”
CE asks them what ‘type of people’ they are in different situations on which they have made videos. Excerpts:
What type of people are you at concerts?
Naser: We go there, notice people to create content for our channel. We judge people.
What type of people are you while standing in queues?
Vineeth: Naser would be someone who would beat up the people, and I would just cut in and move forward.
I still don’t have an intro: Niharika NM
Niharika NM, 20, started her YouTube channel with ‘Types of people’, and soon shot to fame with 10,000 views in a month. Later, she shifted her content, focusing on women. She introduces herself in every video saying, ‘I do not have an intro about myself’. Ask if she has an intro after about two years of being a creator, and she says that she still doesn’t have one.
“That has become my intro now,” she says, laughing. Her sketches also include funny videos, such as terrible job interviews, which she made with fictional characters based on real experiences her friends shared with her. She says, “I have never attended a job interview. I will be attending the mass placement after I complete my third year in engineering, but that would be only to get content for my videos, not a job.”
CE asks her what ‘type of person’ she is based on the different situations she has made videos on. Excerpts:
What type of person are you at birthday parties?
I am the over-excited one. I am always very excited about my birthday, and also that of others around me.
What type of person are you at restaurants?
I am the messy one. I spill food, I have butter fingers. Everything I hold slips out of my hand.
At parties?
I am the awkward one who stands in a corner waiting to go home. I hate parties.
At the gym?
I wish I went to a gym (laughs). I paid for a year and went only for a month. I hate it.
What type of a student are you?
In school, I was a backbencher whom every teacher hated. I would just enter class and stare at the walls.
‘People call us CNG Comedy’
Ppopular comedy creator, SnG Comedy from Mumbai, will be making a presentation at FanFest in Bengaluru. “It wouldn’t be business-y, but funny. We will have some pie charts and do a presentation on the kinds of comments we get on our channel. People forget and call us CNG comedy. So we wouldn’t be joking about such comments,” says Karan Talwar from SnG Comedy. The channel has shifted its content to podcast ‘The Big Question’, where the team picks a question and discusses it. “I wanted to do something simple.
Until then, we used to do sketches that would take days to make. I wanted to do something easier on the production side, which we could do on a weekly basis. So a podcast was the obvious answer,” he says. He adds that the question for the show is decided on the spot. “Honestly, we sit down, switch the cameras on, mics on, lights on, and then we ask each other what question we would like to talk about, and if there’s anything that is bothering anybody in particular. We do not want to be overly prepared. Even when we have guests on the show, we come up with questions in front of them. We expect them to join the conversation,” he says.
B’luru has mixed content
YouTube is seeing an increase in the number of Indian creators, with creators from tier-2 towns grabbing eyeballs globally. Satya Raghavan, entertainment head, YouTube India, says, “About four years ago, most creators were concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi, and the videos were majorly in English and Hindi. The platform has seen a sudden rise, with over 140 creators having over one million subscribers. FanFest celebrates these creators and their fans.”
This is the fifth time FanFest is being organised, and for the first, the event is being held in five different cities in the country. Satya observes that every city has its unique characteristics. “Mumbai, Delhi focus on creating content in English and Hindi. Bengaluru, being a cosmopolitan city, has a mixed content. It has Kannada creators and those with nationwide appeal.” The creators performing at the fest have been shortlisted as per their popularity in the city.”
FanFest hits the city:
Where: White Orchids Convention Center, Manyata Tech Park
Road, Hebbal-K R Puram Ring Road, Nagavara
When: March 10
Other artistes at Fest:
Melvin Louis
Atul Khatri
Evam Stand-up Tamasha
Thaikudam
Bridge with
Kappa TV