Gokul Raj.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A green kurta and a dupatta are all that digital creator Gokul Raj needs to transform his bearded self into Amma (mother); a salt and pepper wig turns him into Achan (father). Gokul, a former radio jockey, says most content creators have a target audience, but he wanted to go for a page (@rjvjgokulraj) that would appeal to families cutting across age barriers.
Gokul Raj as Amma in one of the episodes created by him.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
With 306K followers, his strategy seems to have worked as his page has fans from all age groups.
His humorous sketches of everyday life in Kerala seem to have struck a chord with many. Says Gokul: “Initially, I was inspired by my mother, Swapna R Nair’s mannerisms and takeon certain incidents. I polished the content and posted it. The positive feedback was encouraging and many of my friend’s mothers wondered if their children had been sharing their experiences with me.”
As a radio and television jockey, Gokul was used to creating content for different media. But when it came to visualising the content, he realised he would have to up his game and so “I watched a lot of videos online to understand how it all worked.”
Over the last two-and-a-half years, he has become a popular figure with his interpretation of the generation gap, interactions with teachers, festive occasions and so on. The feedback convinced him that he was on the right track.
He adds that since his mother is a teacher, he also adapts some of her experiences into his videos that are so true to life and evoke nostalgia in viewers.
Gokul Raj plays Achan with elan.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“Nevertheless, the father I portrays in my videos have nothing in common with my dad, G Rajendran Nair, a former IB employee. To play the Achan, I turn to my friends for help who tell me about their interactions with their parents.”
Gokul’s wife, Vismaya LJ, shoots, edits the videos and manages the page while the scripting is by Gokul.
On why he sticks to the green kurta in every episode, he explains that his viewers now identify the green kurta with that of the mother’s image and so he is reluctant to change it. “It has got terrific recall value. Once, at a public place, a woman called out ‘hey green kurta…!’ She was unable to recollect my name but remembered the Amma I portray. I was quite pleased that she recognised the mother image in my videos,” admits Gokul, a resident of Kochi who now heads the community @eatkochieat.
He says the person who enjoys his videos the most is his mother and she asks him if she really resembles the mother in his videos.
Gokul Raj’s take on popular characters in soaps on television.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Gokul also does impersonations of characters usually seen in soaps on television.
“I wanted to ensure that people of all ages should be able to relate to my content. That is why I work with domestic scenes and everyday life in Kerala,” says Gokul.
Published – October 29, 2024 02:16 pm IST
