PROUDLY TAMIL IN THE NORTH OF INDIA

SUMUKHI SURESH IS ONE OF SOUTH INDIA’S MOST WELL-KNOWN, LOVED AND APPRECIATED COMEDIENNES. THIS MULTILINGUAL PERFORMER HOWEVER DOES NOT SHY AWAY FROM USING HER MOTHER TONGUE LIBERALLY WITH AN AUDIENCE THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN EXPOSED TO CONTENT IN HINDI AND ENGLISH ALONE

Comediennes in India are a small but amazing community – how did you end up becoming one?
Well, it sounds like a cliché, but I happened to find comedy. I was working in Bangalore and I wanted to have better evenings and I wanted a hobby and I had already done some theatre in Chennai… so, I thought: let me just try out theatre in Bangalore and I auditioned for this group called The Improv… and at that time I thought they were a play, but it turned out that they were an improvisational comedy group… and they liked my audition. So, I performed with them for a year… along with my job, just for fun. The real beginning happened after an incident with the team, however. There was this show that was about to be called off because some of the older performers couldn’t make it and us newer performers were told that we couldn’t carry the show off. That was not okay with me. I knew I wasn’t that bad. We went ahead and did the show and that show was one of the best I’ve done. That show convinced me that there was something here and I should pursue it. I continued my job till 2015 and then quit my job to pursue a career in comedy, full-time.

From comedienne to content creation to production to acting – how was the journey and what next?
I am all of them even now and I think that’s what comediennes and artistes do all across the world – they do as much of all of these roles as possible. The bigger picture involves doing all of it and I am glad that – very inadvertently – I chose to do all of these things. I am still learning and I know I am not an expert at any of these roles, but I am always excited about each of them. I am hoping to do a new show this year and I have my stand-up specials lined up and I am having fun on Instagram!

You are one of the only content creators with quality content in Hindi and Tamil – how did this journey begin? Has sticking to your mother tongue worked against you?
I think the best thing that I ever did was to be multilingual – Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and English. I grew up being multilingual like most Indians, especially South Indians. That’s the Bangalorean in me. I wasn’t raised in Bangalore, I grew up in Nagpur, in a Tamil family – but, I saw this in Bangalore… everybody knows as many languages as possible. And I think this is fantastic, because you end up interacting with more people and it’s definitely a space that is becoming more common in India. For example, in Pushpavalli, the writers wanted to tap into this multilingual character and that just made the show so much more interesting. Speaking in my mother tongue or being multilingual has definitely not worked against me; in fact, it has made me more unique and given me a niche space and identity. It’s actually led me to take efforts to be more proficient in my mother tongue as well, since I grew up in the North and wasn’t exposed to too much Tamil there.

How are you so brilliantly multilingual?
I’ve kind of answered that already, but here goes. I was born into a Tamil family; grew up in Nagpur, so Hindi; came from a family that was proficient in English; moved to Bangalore because I was in love with a Kannada boy, so I picked up Kannada – you know the cute-I-am-trying-to-speak-Kannada kind of Kannada. Incidentally, I wrote most of the Kannada dialogue in Pushpavalli. And now since I am in Mumbai and my sister-in-law and my manager are Marathi – I will pick up Marathi next, I guess?

What/Whom would you credit in creating the multi-faceted person that you are today?
One person or one situation does not get the credit. The best thing to happen to a comedienne is different life experiences, and thankfully I have had that as an adult and as a child. I grew up in tough situations and money wasn’t really free-flowing for us. I’ve learnt a lot from these situations. Growing up as a fat kid, the bullying you go through, not being considered the ‘cool kid’ – all of these experiences feed into your own personal brand of comedy; and being a comedienne, you learn to accept who you are, as you are. It’s the biggest gift comedy has given to me.

How do you create your content? Is it tapered to your existing audience?
I usually don’t model my content around my audience. I just do content that is most honest to me. If the audience appreciates it you can see it in the numbers, if they don’t appreciate it you can see it in the comment section – and that’s okay. The beautiful thing about the audience is that while they govern your popularity, they’re also always looking forward to new kinds of content from you. Pushpavalli was an eye-opener for all of us. We were told it wouldn’t work. The language wouldn’t work. A negative female lead wouldn’t work. But a lot of people enjoyed it. It worked.

Who is the real Sumukhi? Is your online persona the real you?
I’m still figuring it out. I’m 32. If people know who they are at 32, it’s over! I hope this is not the real me. A good percentage of my online persona is me, especially on Instagram. But not a lot of it… I agree I have kept some stuff away from the online world and the audience. It’s not deliberate, I am still learning about myself.

Female content creators in India are a small but diverse community – has the situation become more favourable from when you began working in this field?
We are a small community and we definitely need more creators and when it comes to female stand-up comediennes; we need more representations from our smaller cities and towns. The female perspective is very different and we need more of that! The situation is definitely better than what it was.

If you weren’t an online content creator or an actor or a comedienne – what do you think you would have been?
I would have been working in the food industry; I was working in a food lab before I became a comedienne. Or I might have been a chef.

Word of advice to upcoming content creators/comediennes?
For female comediennes, please do open-mics. Nothing teaches you more than actually performing. For online creators, please write. Please don’t assume you can write a show just because you can write a sketch. You have so much to learn. I learnt so much from Pushpavalli.

How have you remained sane during this lockdown?
The first month of lockdown kept me occupied with marketing Pushpavalli Season 2 and this was after back-to-back projects. After that, I was forced to sit down with my thoughts. I’m calmer now and I want to get back to work, ASAP!

BRINGING KANNADA AND TULU TO THE FOREFRONT

SHRADDHA IS A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN KARNATAKA NOW. BEING ONE OF THE FEW CONTENT CREATORS TO FOCUS ON CONTENT IN KANNADA AND TULU, SHE ALSO CREATES EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING CONTENT IN HINDI, MARATHI AND ENGLISH. WE CATCH UP WITH THE MULTITALENTED ACTOR, RJ, PRODUCER, Content Creator AND VJ FOR A QUICK CONVERSATION…

Female RJs in India are an industry in their own, each city has its favourite – how did you come up with the unique sound of RJ Shraddha?
I got my radio fundamentals from the best in the industry (Darius Sunawala), I worked on how I wanted to sound on radio and it did not work, then I gave up and just sounded the way I sounded. It worked on most days then some days it did not and I survived!

From RJ to content creation to production to acting – how was the journey and what next?
After radio, it’s just been spontaneous travel on any bus of opportunity that came to me! I got into TV show hosting as I was doing radio and then I was offered the role of a creative director at the TV channel and I took that up, I head the Non Fiction Programming Team at the channel today. I take up acting offers if they suit me and use Instagram to get magazine interviews like this one!

You are one of the only content creators with quality content in Kannada and Tulu on Instagram – how did this journey begin?
The journey began like that of any Superstar (laughs). So you have nothing to lose and you do something you think you are good at and it works a bit and then you think: wow! Let’s do more of this! I put one Tulu video on Instagram and my father loved it! He laughed so much! That’s literally how it all began.

How are you so brilliantly multilingual?
I am a culture chameleon! ‘When in Rome….’ and all that jazz! My parents are from Dakshina Kannada, hence, very strong Tulu foundations. I grew up in Mumbai and there is a pukka Mumbaikar in me! I earn my livelihood in Bangalore and I wear my love for Bangalore on my sleeve! My work at the TV channel encourages me to experience the different flavours of Karnataka and that has really enriched my vocabulary and knowledge of the dialects spoken in the State.

What/Whom would you credit in creating the multi-faceted person that you are today? Cultural influences, if any; regional influences, if any?
Full credit to my middle class upbringing that made it compulsory to be paisa vasool at everything that required time or money as investment!

As online content creators, you must be conscious of the role you play in keeping people happy and entertained in depressing times like the lockdown – do you curate and create content accordingly?
I have just one content brief – keep it simple, don’t act smart with your audience and don’t be a bully. That’s it. All content I create needs to comply with this. On the rare occasions that I have deviated, I have bombed.

From RJing to acting, how was it to work on a series such as Pushapvalli? And what else can fans see you in or look forward to from you?
Pushpavalli is the Christmas present I did not ask for but one that I wanted so badly. I wish I had asked for work like this proactively, sooner in my life. I want to win awards in acting to just thank Sumukhi Suresh, the creator of Pushpavalli, in my acceptance speeches.

Female content creators in India are a small but diverse community – has the situation become more favourable from when you began working in this field?
The situation is more favourable to digital content creators, both male and female. The way I look at it, some content creators work harder than others and hence are more successful.

Are their causes that you find particularly close to your heart and how do you try and do your bit for them as a content creator?
I will do my bit for a home baker or for an abandoned puppy or a human rights cause. I am not too enthusiastic about helping people win ‘cute couple’ contests though.

Everyone’s all about their animal spirit, what is your animal spirit and why?
My spirit animal is a monkey who thinks she is a tiger. I just play, eat, scratch myself all the time and believe everyone is taking me seriously because I am the national animal.

If you weren’t an online content creator or an RJ or an actor or a producer – what do you think you would have been?
A very needy person. Needy for both attention and money. Wait, I am that person.

Word of advice to upcoming content creators?
Keep your content tight! Do not take your audience for granted.

How have you remained sane during this lockdown?
I am just so glad you think I have remained sane, because it implies I was sane before the lockdown. I don’t get that a lot.

TAKING MALAYALAM TO THE NATION

PRAPTI ELIZABETH IS A DIGITAL CONTENT CREATOR AND TALENT WITH HYPP, THE INFLUENCER MARKETING ARM OF ILN STUDIOS (INDIATIMES LIFESTYLE NETWORK) AND REGULARLY FEATURES IN THEIR VIDEOS. SHE IS ALSO ONE OF THE FIRST CONTENT CREATORS TO FEATURE CONTENT IN MALAYALAM FOR A NATIONAL AUDIENCE. WE CATCH UP WITH HER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HER CRAFT…

You are one of the only content creators with quality content in Hindi, English and Malayalam – how did this journey begin? Has sticking to your mother tongue worked against you?
I don’t think I’m the only one and this journey was not one that I had ever planned. Plan A was to be a professor, Plan B to be an editor at a top notch magazine… what’s happening though is a Plan C I never even planned for! The journey began at India Today when I moved from the editorial team to the video team. I wasn’t even sure if I could do this! And one fine day my director and I decided to do ‘Malayali Mother Problems’ and that blew up. I was then asked to make similar content on a daily basis. And here we are. And no, I don’t think it’s been a loss or perhaps I’m too new to this to understand. What I put up as my own content is usually what I relate to. Also, how can something that has worked so unexpectedly and wonderfully really have worked against me?

How are you so brilliantly multilingual?
Thank you. It might sound okay on the outside, but it’s a wild confusion inside my head. We spoke in Malayalam and a bit of English at home. Hindi began once I entered school. Funny story, I was confused how to say ‘yesterday’ in Hindi, the first few days of school. In Hindi ‘kal’ only meant tomorrow to me. Well, we learn. So yeah, all the three languages have been used consistently in all walks of life. And my parents were very particular that I should know how to speak in Malayalam because they wanted me to interact with my grandparents seamlessly. They also tried to get me to learn how to read and write but by God it’s tough – I cried then and I’d cry now.

What/Whom would you credit in creating the multi-faceted person that you are today? Cultural influences, if any; regional influences, if any?
I think it’s all the people I have met in all walks of life. I was not supposed to do this in my scheme of things. And I never knew I’m even observing these things or that it was so relatable. So I can’t really pinpoint… but growing up in Delhi and especially when the culture indoors and outdoors is so diverse, right from your food to your language – I think that is what has made content possible for me.

As online content creators, you must be conscious of the role you play in keeping people happy and entertained in depressing times like the lockdown – do you curate and create content accordingly?
I just go by ‘if it’s funny to me, perhaps it will be funny to them’ and that has mostly worked. Sometimes I try something different, it could be a hit and miss but it’s all worth a try. But at the end of the day, if I’m making even one person smile, I think I’m doing my job well. I think we are just realising the value of that a little more now.

As a content creator, how do you try and balance the inequality in linguistic representation online?
I am not balancing anything. I have been given a wonderful chance that I never thought I’d have. And there has been a huge amount of love that has come my way for the content I make in Malayalam. And that’s the only thing that pushes me to do more. Although, I sincerely hope regional content becomes mainstream too.

Are their causes that you find particularly close to your heart and how do you try and do your bit for them as a content creator?
I have seen humour makes everything, almost, palatable. You can sprinkle it like confetti or chilli flakes but it will make people listen and pay attention. It also loosens you up to another person’s way of thinking. If you can make dialogue happen, what’s better than that?

If you weren’t an online content creator – what do you think you would have been?
A professor or a writer on the way to being (hopefully) a columnist.

Word of advice to upcoming content creators?
Inspiration comes with creation, the more you will make, the more you’ll get inspired by. Motivation does not come by waiting for it. You have to take action for motivation. I’m telling you once you begin, it will just keep coming. Hustle, but take a break. We do what we do so that we can have fun.

How have you remained sane during this lockdown?
Talk to people. Call them, video call them. I have been trying to read and have mostly been unsuccessful, but I have watched a lot of fun things. You should too. And if you can, like I have now… learn to cook at least three things that can help get you by.