Over the past few years, YouTube content has been vying with TV content to get viewers’ constant attention. From waiting for the next season of their favourite TV shows, many people now watch out eagerly for the weekly instalment of their preferred web series. While it seems like an increasing number of YouTube channels are creating such content, Sameer Pitalwalla , CEO & Co-founder, Culture Machine, a digital media company, says that the idea to create such shows has been around for the past three or four years. "The only difference is that they were not noticed. Also, many of those who started such series didn’t know how much work goes into it: content, audience preference, the economy of building a brand," he says. Now, more groups are ready to take the plunge into full-time production of web series. Here are some of the popular ones:
On THE BENCH with Cyrus Sahukar:
Cyrus Sahukar
All of two episodes old, The Bench is a “fictitious talk show that never went on air,” according to host Cyrus Sahukar, who is also Creative Director of Humble Pie Productions. So far, Karan Johar and Farah Khan have been guests, and they hope to get more famous personalities. “ We get obsessed with getting one person for the show and write a script around him or her. Once the script is approved by the person, we go ahead and shoot." says Cyrus. He says that the show is dedicated to the time every journalist spends waiting for an interview. An episode is released every two weeks.
Every Indian series: Being Indian:
The channel aspires to be what MTV was to young Indians in the late 90s, but the Every Indian series takes it one step further. “For some time now, no one has been talking about urban youth on TV. Any content aimed at them is almost always sketch-based comedy. Here, we try to have an opinion on current affairs while being able to laugh at them. Of course we make light of our Indian-ness, but it comes out of love,” says Karl Katgara, the creative director. The team is made up of an editor, a producer and a writer apart from Karl and also has two writers. An episode is released every Tuesday on their YouTube channel.
The Dope: Karan Talwar
Karan Talwar 2
After working in the corporate sector in the U.S. for a decade, Karan Talwar moved back to India and founded a platform for aspiring stand-up comedians in the country. SnG Comedy puts out a host of other videos, but The Dope is the weekly round up of the week’s events that comes out every Thursday. “The idea is to create something that I find funny,” says Karan. The 24th episode was aired this week, concluding the first season of the series. “I'm going to do some mash ups, best of the best and blooper reels now, take a break and come back fresh,” he says.
AIB: All India Bakchod
Cyrus Sahukar
Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhat, Ashish Shakya and Gursimran Khamba of AIB are probably best known for their viral video featuring Alia Bhatt as the genius of the year. “We are here to just entertain people with the kind of stuff we like to watch or naturally react to. There’s no fixed pattern to our videos, although we like to be current with what we do,” says Ashish. AIB puts out about two to three videos a month, and started their web series in September 2013.
Bad Indian: Janaki Tambe
mp bad indian
According to Janaki Tambe, " Bad Indian is about an unmarried Indian American woman who gets laid off and has to move back into her parents’ house. I really wanted to focus on the experiences of First Generation Americans and their relationship with their parents, especially from a female perspective. It’s not something you get to see on mainstream TV, and growing up, it was sometimes an isolating experience. I wanted a way to bring this community together.” Produced by Janaki, who's from Atlanta, Georgia, the series airs every Wednesday on her YouTube channel. Many of the situations are something all Indians can relate too.
