THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s been five years since Karikku was born. The content platform made waves on social media, and captured space in the Malayali psyche within a short span of time. What started as a YouTube channel with “just 64 subscribers, including family and friends” in 2018, today, boasts over 88 lakh followers.
An engineer to the creative head of Karikku. It must have been quite an exciting journey…
I started off my career with the tech teams of some TV channels such as Amrita, Janam and Flowers. My job involved regular interaction with content teams. I used to be intrigued, and observed the process of content generation, how it gets traction, etc. Curiosity gradually grew into a craze.Also, I realised the digital space in Kerala was underexplored. Kerala lacked an organised content generation platform, especially in comparison with north India. Thus, I decided to take a detour. With all the savings I had at that, I took the plunge into the digital content space.
How did you develop the initial core team?
Mostly through our friends’ network. For instance, Unni Mathews and I used to work together. I decided to hire them as staffers of Karikku, with monthly salaries. It didn’t matter whether we were making content or not. We all saw a future in Karikku. Initially, I did everything, from handling the camera to video editing, with whatever basic knowledge I had. It was an adventure. Today, the Karikku brand has 23 employees, of which 12 are actors.
Could you give us an idea about your scripting process?
Initially, we put out sketches. They became popular on social media platforms. The turning point was our web series, Thera Para. It was essentially bachelor comedy, which is a very common genre, but we tried to do something different. We never had a scripting process; we never go by a prepared script in the case of such videos. We would have a story thread, and the rest develops as we shoot. On-spot improvisations bring a lot of naturality, relatability to our videos.
A lot of what you see on screen is drawn from the natural behaviour and quirks of the actors. Be it the characters Lolan or Sambhu….
Now you have more than 88 lakh subscribers. What was it like when you started out?
Oh! I still remember, at first, we had 64 subscribers, including family and friends. I sent our link and made some of them follow us (laughs). The YouTube channel took time to grow. Things changed after Thera Para. We soon got on the trending list. Within a year we crossed one million subscribers, which was unexpected. Those days, one million is a big thing, you know. We never pushed out content frequently. Quality over quantity is the mantra that we followed. That helped us. The gaps between our releases created a thirst.Of our 124 videos, only 94 are in the long format. With these 94, we crossed 88 lakh subscribers.
Did you always want to build Karikku as a multi-vertical brand?
Absolutely. The idea was to start a 360-degree business in the digital space. I wanted Karikku to be a popular brand name among Malayalis. With the Karikku label, we had to bring in other businesses.
As part of that, we now have the influencers’ marketing agency — Fuse; a multi-genre platform for web series — Fliq; a creative ad agency — Bounce; and a record label — Tuned.Now, we have a network of about 250 influencers in south India. We have done more than 200 campaigns.We also launched a news/current events explainer vertical — Zero. But for the time being, it is on hold. It needs a lot more resources.
How did these verticals evolve?
Stage by stage. If we start everything, all at once, there is a huge chance that they might implode.
So, for instance, we thought of a platform for content outside the comedy bracket. In Fliq, we found that space — there we have drama, and can experiment.
How do you manage to carry the team without any friction or ego clashes?
I believe it’s because of the inherent goodness in each of them. Our wavelengths gel well. They all have the freedom to go forward with other plans; in fact, all of them have received other offers….But they have chosen to stay back. I guess it is because they trust me, and the promise the brand holds.
Several offers came to Karikku for doing a feature film as well. But we always wanted to release a film produced under our banner.
You once announced a Thera Para film...
Yes, in 2019. But then came Covid. So we had to drop the project. We are now working on another script. Preproduction work is on now. It will have the Karikku core team in lead roles, along with some mainstream artists.
Subject?
I don’t want to reveal much now (smiles). Humour, of course, is the key element. I am directing it. It will be an old-school type, feel-good entertainer. It will be a comedy, with layers of other emotions.
When are you planning to release it?
This year. This is the first time we are announcing it.
Your new titles like Jabala are being discussed at a different tangent, a bit seriously...
I wanted Karikku to have a presence there, too. Not many people expected content like Jabala from us. But the response has been favourable. We have proven Karikku can also generate good dramas.
That does not mean we are deviating from humour. We are saving it, I would say, for our film. It will be loaded with trademark humour.
So far, you have kept off political or controversial subjects…
I’m a zero-politics person. And I prefer to keep our content that way. We are here to entertain people. If we go political, obviously someone will be hurt. So, we consciously avoid it.
Same rule applies to Fliq as well?
Of course, 100 per cent. I want to point out that we had created socially relevant content — Average Ambili. We got a great response. But, at the same time, such content has relatively lower growth in terms of viewership. We would love to crack that.
OTT has been a big disruptor. Any plans?
In the long run, we plan to create content for OTT platforms. We cannot survive solely on YouTube. We are, indeed, in talks with some OTT platforms. We had earlier associated with Netflix for a YouTuber video.
Have you ever approached celebrities to appear in your productions?
We always want the content to be the king. However, we have a great rapport with some celebrities and also receive their valuable feedback and encouragement. We have a good relationship with Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, Dileesh Pothan, Syam Pushkaran… It will be difficult to name all of them. They seem to like our content.
And critics...
We always self-analyse our content, even while making it. Then, friends and family… some have commented that the quantity of humour has gone down of late. However, in my head, I know… it is part of a conscious plan.I never read articles or comments about our content. If I do so, it might start affecting the future content. I look at only the numbers – the views and the likes.
Karikku has popularised some new terminologies in new-gen Malayali lingo…
None of that was planned. They just happen. For example, it was common to use the term ‘fresh’ sarcastically in our friends’ circle at that time. So, we used ‘freshu..freshu...’ in Bhaskaran Pillai Technologies, it became a hit. Such garnishing happens as we shoot. That’s an advantage of not going by a written script. But it’s a long process. A 25-minute video would take about 40 days of shooting.
You are known to for politically correct humour...
Yes. That’s because our audience includes three-year-old viewers to 80-year-olds. And we want to maintain that; content that can be enjoyed by everyone. Having people with different perspectives on board helps the content-filtering process as we make it.
Is there any specific theme that you personally would want to experiment with?
I want to make something that revolves around folk art, and goes into a bit of fantasy mixed with realism. It’s completely different from what we have been doing.
You keep churning out progressive content. But is there a lack of female perspective, representation?
Our core team consists of men. So, during ideation, we don’t get the female perspective, which is a problem. We have plans to bring in more women characters.
Now comes the big question: will the Plus Two series get a closure?
We had to drop it. Covid struck during the middle of the shoot. Now, the actors have all grown up, their appearances have changed. We even thought of completing it using animation, considering the demand. But as of now, it stands dropped.
TNIE team:
Krishna P S, Najiya Nazrin, Aishwarya Prabhakaran, Manju Soman, S Neeraj Krishna, Harikrishnan B (video), Sanesh A (photos)