Need more regional content online, says YouTuber Madan

His new Tamil music video with Arivu uses animoji to convey a message

Madan Gowri’s journey on YouTube started off as an apology video to a girl. It was many, many years later that she responded to it but by then, others saw his video
and started loving his content.

Hailing from Madurai, Madan has now become a household name for every Tamilian out there.

He has over 3.5 million subscribers and about 500 million views on his channel.

Talking about his journey, he says, “I wasn’t too sure about how YouTube exactly worked. All I wanted to do was apologise to the girl I broke up with. Instead of her responding, I realised there were others who enjoyed what I put up and decided to try more such things. I left my IT job and started following my passion.”

One of his latest videos is called ‘Monkeys With 5G’ with Arivu.

The duo have used animojis as one of the main themes of the video.

He says, “We wanted to do something unique, especially in the Tamil rap form. Rap in the US talks about black history and its movement, and it’s very inspiring. We were inspired by that and worked with a creative studio to make this song happen. I don’t think anyone else in India has done something like this before.”

Madan feels a video like this has also attracted youngsters as they are intrigued by the animoji and watch the video.

He also used YouTube as a platform to spread knowledge creatively. He explains, “When I came into the YouTube scene, there was only comedy or satire — neither of which was informative in the regional language. I’m very bad at cracking jokes but I’m good at conveying a message. Even as a kid, I used to read a lot. I’ve used my experience to make the videos I do.”

However, the Tamil audience is a niche one. “There’s a lot of English or Hindi content on YouTube and not much in Tamil. I personally don’t understand Hindi that well. Having said that, I know creating content in my language has its limitations but my audience is my audience and I’m happy with that.”

Madan encourages more people to join YouTube and create local content.

“Think about how much more regional content you can make on a platform like YouTube — a platform that is not based on nepotism. So make use of it,” he says.