As anxiety levels rise among students outside the examination hall, this guy strides in oozing with confidence. Even as a buzz goes around and everyone look on in envy at their friend who looks like he can’t wait to nail it at the exam, he stops, whirls around and asks, “Okay... but what’s our examination today?”
Then, there is this bloke who wonders how he’s going to fill the blank sheets until he hits upon an idea — “Hah! increase the font size”, and proceeds to empty the stock with the invigilator even as on the bench in another corner, a devout student’s wait for the inauspicious time to end before he starts to write is finally resolved when the final bell rings.
Enter the world of Mic Set, a YouTube channel put together by a few youths in the city, which shines a light on foibles of society with a touch of wit. The channel, which produces short videos on a range of contemporary issues, has been collecting fans across the south and overseas — primarily Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Meteoric rise
With a wacky set and witty one-liners, Mic Set’s meteoric rise since it was founded in July, 2017, has swept it to one of top slots among content channels on YouTube in the south. Producing just a couple of ten-minute videos a month, the channel has had its subscriber base cross 2.6 million in such a short span, with a particularly popular episode notching up an average of 7 million to 8 million views (about 14 million across all platforms)
“We choose themes which ordinary people can easily relate to and present it with a humorous take,” says Sriram, who founded the channel two years ago more as a hobby with the help f a bunch of buddies, and also plays the lead character in the videos.
From conceptualisation to scripting and editing — all self-taught skills — he keeps a tight creative leash over each production. “We are particular that we upload a video only if we are satisfied that it has turned out right,” said Sriram, an MCA graduate from the Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering and Technology here who quit an IT job to set up the YouTube channel.
If quality-consciousness is one reason why Mic Set is not exactly prolific, vis a vis many of its counterparts, the other is because the team has to wait for the availability of the woman lead in the episodes — Sivaranjini, a banker who is able to spare time only on the second weekend of the month.
“Our emphasis on quality over quantity is one of the reasons for our success,” said Raji, who is in-charge of branding.
Also, the channel avoids being judgemental while it deals with social mores, she said.
“We are very particular that we do not violate copyright when we use any material on our channel such as background scores,” said N. Chandru, administrator.
The big break
The channel, Sriram recalls, attracted only about 500 views in the initial phase. It was the Boys vs. Girls and the Exam Sothanaikal episodes that catapulted subscription and views to outlandish levels. The channel’s primary audience (60%) is in the 15-25 age group. .
Occasionally, the channel touches on burning issues such as Sterlite and NEET controversies. “It takes much deeper diving into an issue if one is to present it in a humorous manner,” he said.
Meanwhile, success is breeding success. Sriram is set to realise his dream of acting in a film — he has bagged a couple of offers to act in Tamil films, including a meaty role as a hero’s friend in an upcoming production. He is part of the choreography ensemble for a title song in a Sivakarthikeyan film releasing in May. Mic Set has been invited by the University of Malaya to perform there next month.
