After finishing his BTech, Nikhil Prasad worked in the IT Field before venturing into television. Amrita TV was the first pitstop, followed by a two-year stint at Grass Valley, a manufacturing company that supplies equipment for TV channels. He was involved in the installation of channels like Colours and Zee.

Back in Kerala, he was part of the team that set up Janam TV and also TV News (which shut shop soon). Up next was a job as the tech head at Flowers TV.  It was there that he felt he should start a digital space and began softly with a Facebook page that regularly published video stories. It quickly garnered two lakh followers. After leaving Flowers he registered his firm. Karikku Channel on YouTube. It broke the internet. Meet Nikhil, the Founder, writer, cinematographer, editor and director of Karikku Channel. Their Thera Para web series is quirky, funny, realistic and topped with a bunch of screwball characters who are instantly adorable.

It began on April 1st last year and you already have one million subscribers.  What were the initial challenges before you?
Finances were a struggle initially (I started with my savings of 20 lakhs!) and I realised that I couldn’t hire a big technical team. So, I hired a few actors and gave them an orientation course about the kind of content I had in mind. The digital space was still underdeveloped in Kerala and Malayalis had a different perspective about it as they used it primarily for music videos and short films or junk news content. And that was growing alarmingly. For some reason we don’t want to watch Malayalam content on Netflix or Amazon and would rather rely on YouTube or Facebook.  Web series were still a distant possibility.

No one cracks humour like a Malayali but it’s also difficult to make them laugh. But they have loved Thera Para from day one. What do you think clicked?
We initially launched a FIFA campaign with fan-based characters, and it became popular. That gave us some impetus and we started a web series with those characters. Their characterisation and mannerisms helped them in carving an identity of their own which in-turn connected with the common man. It had recall value. If we do a post-mortem of Thera Para, it’s very simple, relatable and the dialogues are mostly routine daily talk. There is no black comedy, no vulgar jokes and we made sure no one gets bored with it. Take the sitcom Friends, it’s the unique characterisations that gave them the relatability factor. Now we have a strong fan following on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

The actors were all new and inexperienced when you started. How did you train them?
During the auditions I would sit and talk to them, understand their characteristics and once selected bring out these quirks in their behaviour on screen. The brief was always to not act. Each actor has a frequency band. Lolan wouldn’t be this effective handling dramatic situations. If you create the content taking in all these nuances it will be easier. Lolan is a spontaneous actor. I brief him and get an output from there. At time I have made him do 25 takes to get that output. He is a rare talent.

Humour grows faster, and the characters grow on you. While thrillers will always depend on how good the next episode is. You can scare people easily, not make them laugh. As a creator that is a challenge.

Nikhil Prasad, Founder, Karikku Channel

I am sure writing humour is never easy, is it even more difficult to translate on screen?
After 2-3 videos we sort of figured out what kind of humour worked. When we did the first episode of Thera Para, I had not planned the second episode story board at all. Their behaviour and responses were considered to build the stories. When it comes to writing for web series, humour is always risky. Thriller is a genre in which you just need to check for the technicalities. But with humour, it’s all about the audience. Advantage is that humour grows faster, and the characters grow on you. While thrillers will always depend on how good the next episode is. You can scare people easily, not make them laugh. As a creator that is a challenge. On the spot improvisations are there and these actors bring in new stuff during a shot. Priyadarshan films have already popularised slapstick comedy to its maximum. So, we tried to create a different genre for comedy, and we could meet it. It’s also a challenge to survive among such a talented bunch of troll and meme makers.

How long does it take to shoot one episode?
A web series is like making a film, it must have a solid technical crew. We only have actors and an editor. The rest is all done by me. I shoot it myself as I don’t have the confidence in someone else. Thera Para finished 20 episodes and we have also done 52 short text videos with the same actors. It had branding and generated enough revenue for us.

Digital platforms aren’t instant money spinners is what is being widely said. Was it a struggle?
Thankfully after 2-3 videos we started getting enquiries and right now it’s come to a situation where we have too much on our plate.

How do you slot these releases? Is there a right and wrong time to release them?
There is a strategy at play. It’s especially feasible when you have NRIs as the target audience. The release time of the day is a huge factor.

What next?
We want to create lot of content in food and travel as well. Since the first season of Thera Para is over, we are planning another property for them which will be revealed soon. Malayali flavour will be intact in our content. We will keep experimenting. For me, the key is the brand and not myself. And I am happy that our actors are as passionate about Karikku channel as I am.