KOCHI: YouTube’s coming of age from its earlier avatar of being a mere video hosting platform has proved a game-changer for millennials with a flair for creativity. And the riches it promises makes YouTube even more irresistible for gen-next.
The trend is no different in Kerala, with many quitting their stable jobs to become YouTube full-timers. According to statistics, Malayalam video content creators on YouTube have registered a phenomenal growth in the past one year.
YouTube data show 17 Malayalam channels hosted by it have now crossed the one million subscriber mark and 50 Malayalam channels have subscribers between 500K - 1 million. Besides, 400 plus Malayalam channels have more than 100K subscribers. Many of them earn a decent monthly revenue by posting videos on the platform. Globally, more than three million YouTube creators make money from uploading content. Express gives the lowdown on a few enterprising Malayali video content creators, who have parked themselves on YouTube and rake in monthly revenues of over `1 lakh.
Veena Jan
Perinjanam, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur
Veena’s Curryworld, a food channel
Subscribers: 11,18,060
For the UAE-based Veena Jan hailing from Perinjanam in Irinjalakuda, cooking has always been a great passion. Though she rustled up various dishes to kill time, her ideas never went beyond the four walls of home until her husband advised her to take a shot at blogging. Though she didn’t pay much attention to the indulgence initially, videos of her recipes uploaded on ‘Veena’s Curryworld’ was lapped up by a large audience. “I used to experiment with various cuisines to kill time. Then my husband Jan advised me to try blogging, which he used to do as well. Though I didn’t pay much heed to it initially, later on I began to upload various recipes on my blog,” Veena told Express.
Geo Joseph
Mala, Thrissur,
‘M4Tech’ Channel for technology updates
Subscribers: 18,47,599
Revenue:Rs 2 lakh per month
An electronics diploma holder, Geo Joseph started uploading videos on YouTube nearly two years ago. Though the initial response to his channel- M4 Tech- was tepid, it started eliciting a good response when Joseph posted an awareness video on what happens when Mentos is consumed with cola? As the videos began to get an encouraging response from netizens, Geo got the confidence to quit his lucrative job in Qatar to become a full-time video creator. Now he has 1.8 million followers, helping earn around `2 lakh per month. “Earlier I used to upload technology-related subjects on YouTube but now I have started uploading videos on a host of topics, including travel, food etc. Since it was difficult to manage videos along with a regular job, I decided to quit. Even my family members are supporting it and they regard it as my job. I am happy I’m able to earn a decent revenue,” said Geo.
Nikhil Prasad
Kochi
Subscribers: 26,70,015
Channel name: ‘Karikku’
Revenue: Rs 4 lakh per month
Nikhil Prasad, a BTech graduate who has worked with a few mainstream TV channels, started creating video content with the aim of exploring the digital space which has largely remained unexplored among Malayalees. To his great surprise, the first of his web series -’Thera Para’- uploaded on ‘Karikku’ channel became viral. Within a year, ‘Thera Para’ video garnered 2.6 million viewers for ‘Karikku’. Its characters - Lolan, George, Shibu and Shambu - have become household names. ‘Karikku’s founder, writer, editor and director earn `4 lakh per month. Nikhil also has plans to produce a movie next year.
“Earlier I used to upload some informative stuff on my Facebook page. Since YouTube is a dedicated space for videos I started thinking of posting videos on it. If we can spend a sufficient amount of time, we can mint money,” said Nikhil.
Annie Yujin
Angamaly, Ernakulam
Krishi Lokam,
Agriculture channel
Subscribers: 3,05,427
Revenue: Rs 1 lakh per month
Annie Yujin, a web designer by profession, didn’t want to miss out on her son’s early childhood. And she documented nearly every moment of her child’s growing up stage by shooting videos and clicking pictures using the digital camera gifted by her brother. Nonetheless, storing these in a computer hard disk was hardly a viable proposition. On her brother’s advice, Annie started uploading the videos on YouTube to keep them ‘alive’. Most of the videos she uploaded have agriculture land as their backdrop. Some of them provided information on herbal plants, flowering plants, fruit plants, animal husbandry and fisheries. To her surprise, the videos uploaded on ‘Krishi Lokam’ got good viewership. Currently, Annie runs two channels - Krishi Lokam and Tips for Happy Life - on YouTube . Based on viewership, she earns nearly one lakh per month. “ My tryst with agriculture started during childhood. So when I got time I created a video and uploaded it on YouTube,” said Annie.
