Nakkalites, a popular YouTube channel that makes binge videos, has caught the fancy of viewers in a big way with its latest web series Ammuchi . Is it nostalgia that has worked? The show is about grandmom’s food, swimming in the pond, playing maramerikomberi and olunju vilayaatu and crushing on a favourite cousin. “We have completed seven episodes of Ammuchi. Three more to go. Each episode has already crossed two million views,” says a pleased Prasanna Balachandran, the man behind Nakkalites. His co-founder Rajeshwar K and the director of the show says Ammuchi came out of a random idea on summer holidays.
“Most of us in our team are from a rural background. We thought of offering a slice of village life to the urban audience. And it clicked as it rekindled nostalgia in them. It’s a feel-good drama told with a fresh perspective. In the online space there is hardly any content on village lifestyle, and we made use of the opportunity,” explains Rajeshwar.
It is about the adventures of cousins Sasi and Arun spending the summers at their grandmother’s. The first episode is Goa Vs Kovandipalayam where Arun is forced to cancel his trip to Goa and instead visit his grandmother and his cousin Sasi in Kovandipalayam. “It’s a drama that plays out in everyone’s home where one cousin is pitted against the other We have also brought back some of the forgotten traditional outdoor games in the show,” he points out.
- A new web series only for women and kids.
- Clean content as Nakkalites works on the principle of dignity and respect. They declare that their content is always ‘Clean’. They steer clear of body shaming, racism, sexism, and anything that glorifies patriarchy.
- A slow story-telling format. Most You Tube videos work on jump cuts to build the pace. In Ammuchi , there are long takes without many cuts and an extended story-telling of 30 minutes
Nakkalites began life as Chummanachikki and made political satire videos. “Demonetisation was the starting point. We reacted to it in a series of videos,” recalls Prasanna. Later, they changed the name to Nakkalites and focussed on lifestyle videos and called a series Amma Alapparaigal . “It became an instant hit because of the regional flavour. Especially, the charm of Kongu Tamil. All the actors speak Tamil in Kongu slang and it struck a chord with the audience. Our content is family-friendly,” says Rajeshwar.
To include socio-political satire into their portfolio, they added another new channel called Urban Nakkalites. “We have weekly series videos on topics that make news such as GST and more,” explains Prasanna.
The team has grown from being just two of them to being 40-strong. They have to their credit over 100 episodes and 50 series on various topics. Prasanna says it has not been easy to stand out from the crowd in the digital medium. “Everyone offers entertainment there. We have to develop content that will appeal to a niche audience. While most YouTube videos try and copy cinema, we look at real life. So what you get is grounded performances and situation which anyone can connect with. Our strength is our story-telling.”
Amma Alapparaigal captures conversations between husband and wife, father and daughter and mother and son. “Sometimes we pick a topic like 90s versus current times or love then and now,” says Prasanna who also acts in the series. He picks Bike Alapparaigal as his favourite where he plays a father who refuses to buy a new bike for his son and then what happens once he relents and agrees to buy the son one. “We make fun of each other. We laugh a lot. We just replicate it online.”
- Budget constraints forced them to get creative. They once used the headlights of a two-wheeler to light a scene! sometimes they turned adversities to their advantage like the time they were shooting for mixturetheenthu pochu that dealt with jallikattu protests. For one of the scenes where the cops chase the protesters, they ran into a coconut farm, without realising that there were dogs there. Fortunately the dogs were tied but they barked loudly. The team recorded the barks and used it for sound effects to go with that scene!
The Amma Alapparaigal series has popularised the actors. Dhanam amma or Dhanalakshmi with her comic timing, kongu Tamil and natural acting is a star, especially in episodes like Purattasi alapparaigal and Kalyana vayasualapparaigal. “She is doing movies now,” says Rajeshwar. The series also brought actors like Arun and Sassi Selvaraj into the limelight. Music director Vivek Saro also became popular. So did cinematographer Sujith S who enjoyed the challenge of shooting at live locations, he says. “We shot Ammuchi in villages near Ettimadai.”
Nakkalites also made a a 10-episode mini web series on school life that garnered over 10 million views! Prasanna says a digital platform offers visibility. “Young directors in the film industry are closely watching this space for new talent. The online content is made as movies too. We have managed to bring the family audience to the online space. They were glued to soap operas for over two decades, now they are connecting with phones and laughing their way watching our shows.”
