Even when in Singapore, they do as the Malayalis do. In their latest episode, Thaadi vs Koothadi , the “fight” between Mr and Mrs Sambavam continues. This time, over the long but not unkempt beard the better half loves to sport and defends the honour of.
Through their YouTube channel ‘We are a Sambavam: Celebrate Life and Laughter’, Singapore-based Malayali couple Sooraj Jayaraman and Ann Sooraj essays satiric takes on life and present-day lifestyle through the fictional couple Sooraj and Chinchumol. In their droll videos, the duo comically presents a modern-day, middle-class, opinionated Malayali couple as they navigate through disagreements and harmonies that are part and parcel of marital life.
It all started with the blog ‘I am a Sambavam’ that Sooraj began as a bachelor back in 2007 where he chronicled his everyday experiences with a dash of self-deprecating humour. “I was into skits in school and college and I love doing comedy sketches. ‘I am a Sambavam’ was mostly about my goof-ups and misadventures. Later, I started another blog ‘Singapooram’ when I moved to Singapore for work,” says Sooraj, a Thiruvananthapuram native, who runs a software firm in Technopark.
A screenshot from an episode of ‘We are a Sambavam’
After he tied the knot with Ann, whom he met in Singapore, the couple “just for the heck of it” brought out a “male version” spoof of Bollywood star Deepika Padukone’s video ‘My Life, My Choice’, which broke the Internet. “The response from our friends was overwhelming and we wanted to experiment with more videos and launched ‘We are a Sambavam’ in 2015,” says Sooraj over phone from Singapore. It was a time when dubsmash clips were a rage and they too latched on to the trend. But the big break came with their ‘ Premam Hangover’ video on the Nivin Pauly-starrer that went viral. Soon came the nine-episode web series Singapooram that catapulted the Sambavam couple to online fame.
‘We are a Sambhavam’, with about 1,23,000 subscribers and counting, has put out close to 90 videos so far and Sooraj says they try to keep the posts as “grounded” as possible. Ann says she acts as the “editor” and also helps in the visual elements such as costumes, location and so on. “At the end of the day, the idea is not to say either me or Chinchu is a sambavam . We mean to convey a global message that all of us have latent talents and are unique in our own ways, that we are all sambavams ,” he says with a chuckle.
Ann Sooraj and Sooraj Jayaraman
Kochi-born Ann, an electronics engineer, says: “We started this for pure fun, to kill our time and to entertain ourselves in our busy life here. But later we realised that it was becoming a stress-buster for many. The love and positivity we receive through this platform is amazing. What you see in our videos is just a small segment of what happens in our daily lives. Some of them are verbatim representation of our conversations off-screen.”
Though living far from the country, Sooraj says they manage to keep track of the trends and development in Kerala that find their way into their videos.
“In Singapore, there are a lot of Malayalis. The fun part is when Malayalis get together, often they discuss what happens in their homeland than talking about Singapore-centric life. Then there’s social media that keeps you updated on the dope about God’s Own Country,” he points out.
Staying on the outside looking in also lends a “bird’s eye view” of things. “That helps you see and analyse things in a more neutral perspective,” he adds. “I’ve sometimes felt that Malayalis away from Kerala probably are more connected to the State as we miss our home and cherish our memories,” chimes in Ann.
Laughter is indeed the best medicine.
