KOCHI: Balamani, the ardent devotee of Lord Krishna in the romantic fantasy Malayalam film Nandanam, goes through an emotional breakdown in front of the deity and cries to him for putting her in a plightful condition. She vindictively tells him she would never light the lamp for him again. Most of us felt bad for her and could empathize with her innocence. But Visakh V M from Haripad, Alapuzha, gave the plot an interesting narrative. In his rendition, the deity himself comes out of the frame and yells at her for all the ranting, and to everyone’s surprise, he blows out the lamp himself, turning the already bewildered Balamani’s face dark like charcoal.
This 2D animated spoof video grabbed plenty of attention and became a very popular WhatsApp forward. It turned many heads when the actor Navya Nair herself shared it on social media. The creator of the spoof, 26-year-old Visakh, has a trove of such funny 2D spoofs in his YouTube channel ‘Kadalasmation’. Be it movie clips, social or political issues, Visakh’s animation can leave us laughing on the floor, while also delivering a good story.
“I started animation traditionally — creating each frame on paper before trying out the software. I experimented with movement on the flipbooks. That is why I kept the channel’s name as Kadalasmation ( paper and animation),” he says.
Kadalasmation stands out for the unexpected shift it gives to content. In the hit Malayalam rom-com ‘Aniyathipraavu’, the iconic novel Love and Love Only brings the movie’s protagonists Sudhi (played by Kunchacko Boban) and Mini ( played by Shalini) together. Visakh has let his imagination run wild there too. His characters get into a fight, and guess who steals the show, conman Monson Mavunkal! “I am particular about giving the stories an interesting start and a fascinating ending,” he adds.
Visakh’s content is born after he repeatedly binge watches the movies. Even before starting the channel, Visakh had an eye for alternative endings and storylines. “I don’t watch a scene or a movie specifically to create content. When I watch a scene multiple times on TV, I tend to create a funny branch side to it in my head,” he says.
The self-taught artist, who is a mechanical engineer by profession, ventured into animation quite unexpectedly. When his plans to go abroad was dampened by Covid, he decided to earn some cash by doing 2D animation. Vaisak’s channel now has nearly 1,44,000 subscribers.