Social media is filled with memes and content, but one of the top favourites are spoofs on those from South Delhi and Bombay. But now, adding to this list is content about the people of Bengaluru. Whether it is Bengalureans bragging about the weather or pronouncing the places in a certain way, creators are tapping into everyday situations to come up with hyperlocal content.
Chennai-based Nirmal Pillai, who is popularly known as Mahlyf_mahrulez on Instagram, says the city has young energy which creators are interested in. "Most of my jokes come from observing my surroundings," says Pillai, who was working as a product designer in Bengaluru before taking up content creation as a full-time job. "Eighty per cent of the time, people don’t take offence. If they don’t like the content, they are not our target audience," says Pillai, who has around two lakh followers on Instagram.
Abhishek Kumar, who enjoys donning different hats, including as actor and standup comedian, says the common thread is the chatter on the city's weather. "When I do any content on Bengaluru, it mostly comes from observing the city and the people. Every city has a crowd which could be generalised so it’s not to insult anyone," says Kumar.
Adding to it, Satshya Tharien, an edutainment content creator from Mangaluru, who is known for concluding her videos with her signature 'easy', says it's always great for content creators to include their culture in their videos.
"Most content creators imbibe their culture into their scripts because no one else can do it. For example, if someone from South India does skits on North Indian people, it could be offensive to many," explains Tharien, who has close to 2 lakh followers on Instagram.
Macwin Ian D'Souza, who is also known as Mac Macha, says relatability is key with shortform content, especially Instagram Reels. For instance, he says, if he makes anything about The Great American Dream, it doesn’t refer to any particular city. "With every city becoming its own centre now, regional is the new global," he adds.
D'souza is now enjoying the attention that comes along with this popular content. "I was really surprised when film stars from the neighbouring Telugu industry like Allu Sirish and Vishwak Sen shared my content on their page and appreciated my work as DM. There is a list of celebrity names from the Kannada, Tamil and Telugu industry who went out of their way to appreciate my work," says the 27-year-old actor.