D. Rajkumar, a former automobile showroom executive who now runs an advertising agency in the city, has a passion for creating video content on a gamut of issues in his spare time.
Moved by the war between Russia and Ukraine, he produced the musical video Yudham Vendam (We don’t want War), that was launched by Member of Parliament S. Thirunavukkarasar last month to positive reviews.
“When the war began, most of the media coverage focused on the plight of the innocent Ukrainian civilians caught in the crossfire. The war had turned their life upside down. I wrote a song related to this, and had Orathanadu Gopu sing it. The entire project took 10 days to complete, and has got good feedback so far,” Mr. Rajkumar told The Hindu.
Spending his savings on video production, Mr. Rajkumar brings out approximately three projects in a year, either as musical videos or short films, which he streams on his YouTube channel. “Each venture costs me up to ₹50,000, but I am not interested in monetising my content,” he said.
Mr. Rajkumar, the son of teachers, studied to be an educator as well. But he decided to work in sales after he was unable to secure a government teaching post. Clearly a multi-faceted person, he has also moonlighted as an actor in Tamil films such as Kayal (2013) and Vada Chennai (2018).
“It was director Prabhu Solomon who inspired me to follow my passion for music production and public service messages,” said Mr. Rajkumar. “When I went to request him to launch my debut song, a romantic ballad, he told me that while there were many people who could produce this type of work, there were few who would be willing to focus on social issues in a meaningful way. So I decided to change direction from then onwards.”
Among the topics he has worked on are water conservation, corruption and COVID-19 awareness. There are some off-beat ones took such as the video Dhosai, with a catchy song on the many varieties of this south Indian traditional dish.
“Not many professional singers are willing to be part of social message videos; I am lucky that singers like Orathanadu Gopu, Chinnaponnu and Velmurugan have agreed to be part of my projects,” said Mr. Rajkumar.
This year, he is planning to bring out videos on the Tamil language and government schools in the state. “Over two lakh viewers follow my work on YouTube. But more than the numbers, I’d like my work to convey a useful message,” said Mr. Rajkumar.
