Almost everyone has a smartphone and be it during commutes or during breaks at office, YouTube is something on everybody’s mind. The video sharing platform — owned by Google — has changed the way content is consumed by taking it far beyond the English-speaking audience. In fact, the platform’s growth in India has much to do with regional content. Earlier this week was International Mother Language Day and we asked three YouTubers what is it to create content in their mother tongues.
Payal Gaming
Subscriber base: 1.82m
Face behind it: Payal Dhare
A gaming channel in Hindi….
Hindi is the go-to language for a lot of Indian YouTube audience. Yes, I could have settled for English as the medium but to interact with my audience, to bring an intimate feel, I guess Hindi was and is the best language to go with.
A day in the life….
Consistency is key to running a YT channel. It demands your time, your efforts, your creativity, and, most importantly, consistency. My usual day is more focused on what I can do today. I recall the things I had planned for and then make it happen. A usual day is quite busy and that’s what makes me feel satisfied.
Women and e-sports….
Communicating with a male audience is not a tough task. I have spent more than a year on YT and have not faced any problem. Everyone in the community is supportive and respectful.
Changing her life….
I never thought that this is how it looks to be an influencer. I am a person who is happy to be known. I get engaged in many fan moments and my parents are happy to see that. I am busier and indulge in work which is all for me and I love it.
How it started….
I would have joined a nine-to-five job had I not started my channel. I was just another person, living my life with my family and studies. Now I think more about what to create and how to be more creative.
Cafe Marathi
Nikhil Raibole
Subscriber base: 427,000
Face behind it: Nikhil Raibole
The idea....
My partner and I were discussing that there were a lot of Hindi and English original content available on YouTube but for the Marathi audience there was absolutely nothing, though they wanted digital content in their mother tongue; something they could relate to.
Reaction beyond Maharashtra….
There is a huge Marathi-speaking population living in the US, Europe and the Middle East and they love watching such content. A lot of people say they get nostalgic after watching content in their mother tongue as it reminds them of the days spent in their hometowns. That’s the magic of consuming content in your mother tongue, be it a book, a video or a blog.
Pressure to put out content….
More than pressure there is a huge amount of responsibility as you are making content for an audience which is very close knit and evolved. They look up to you; they respect you for your work. For them it’s a matter of pride as they watch and recommend the content you make to friends and loved ones, even if they are non-Maharashtrians.
Currently we have a full-time team of six but for bigger content, like an original web series, the team extends to more than 30 people working on that project.
Biggest joy of being a content creator on YouTube….
The biggest joy is following your heart and passion to create stories for a worldwide audience. When you create content and publish it you put all your energy into expressing yourself before the world. As language barrier is getting thinner day by day, the content you are making in a regional language is finding a global audience on YouTube and that’s the biggest joy anyone can expect being a content creator on YouTube.
Wonder Munna
Indrani Biswas
Subscriber base: 1.13m
Face behind it: Indrani Biswas
Connecting through Bengali….
It’s been five years already and it still seems like I have just started and know nothing of content creation. To be honest, back in 2017, I started my channel having zero expectations. I had no idea that I would reach this far, especially with Bengali content. However, being a Bengali, I knew there was a huge gap in Bengali content. When I saw the opportunity of creating content on YouTube, I jumped at it. It was definitely not easy at first to connect and make a Bengali audience base. However, with regular content generation and making more and more relevant content helped me to gain trust of my audience and grow.
Challenges of being a YouTube content creator….
Making short videos on YouTube is easy, considering the fact that the duration for those videos is one minute or less. The actual challenge comes, when you are supposed to hook your audience for long videos and that’s where it gets pretty difficult. I have been making long videos for almost five years now and it has been through trial and error that I got to learn what works and what does not. For me, everyday is a challenge, starting from writing content, to planning and producing video for streaming platforms. For me this is a 24x7 job/business. I wake up, think about content, write, produce short videos, edit and then again plan for the next video. And when it comes to challenges, they change with time. It’s not like if you are a new creator, you have more challenges than an established creator. The thing is… the audience keeps evolving and with that a creator needs to evolve.
What kind of content works in 2022….
I think relatable content always works, no matter the year you are living in. The actual difference comes with the overall packaging. For instance, earlier I used to make videos on my mobile phone, and now I only produce 4K videos, and that goes even for my shorts, since nowadays, high-resolution smartphones are easily available at affordable rates and so the audience wants to watch good video quality. When it was 2020, people were home, idle and started ordering food online, started shopping online and so the product review genre of videos boomed. These days, Shorts work a lot more compared to longer videos. However, long videos will always be there because they add value to people’s lives, whether it is a review, a sentimental story or an educational video.
Falling in love with comedy…
The reason behind starting a channel was simple and that’s because I always wanted to be an entertainer. I think I fell in love with comedy because it makes people laugh. I always loved to entertain people. Their laughs make me feel better. I love the fact that my gestures, act and dialogues can make people laugh. Since early childhood, I was the one who would entertain guests in family gatherings and I was the one who would enact full-length feature films with my cousins. They would laugh and enjoy… those moments stayed with me.
