With strong rumours doing the rounds about content streaming sites such as Amazon and Netflix entering the Indian market, the internet is fast becoming an alternative to television. Recently, a slew of amateur filmmakers here have come up with their own video streaming websites and web series, which have gained instant popularity. Here are the standouts:
Baked, by Pechka Pictures and ScoopWhoop talkies
“Fresh off the train from Allahabad, Haris is the new kid in Delhi University. On his very first day in Delhi, his flatmates Oni and Body take him along for a frantic midnight search for food and end up getting into more trouble than they could have bargained for.” Remember the premise of every smoke -laced late night session that ends up with someone inevitably saying, “Let’s open a food delivery service, because we’re so good at making late night munchies that inebriated people find yummy”? Baked is an enactment of what happens if some kids are stupid enough to act on this obviously flawed idea. The show follows Delhi college life pretty closely, and it’s insights into the sub-culture that Delhi University offers has enough humorous moments for you to watch when you need something to take your mind off
everyday reality.
For more, visit: www.scoopwhoop.com/baked
East India Company Outrage Series
There is a lot of talk about outraging these days. Entire news shows compete over who can get redder in the face and more apoplectic with rage when the clock strikes nine every night. The iron is hot enough for these worthy men of the East India Company to play the satirical fool and hold up a mirror to society. This comic collective has shifted from making fun of Twitter trolls to a slightly more accessible medium of YouTube videos. If you belong to the stripe of people who think nothing is wrong with being sensible, and if you don’t get irate every time things don’t go your way politically and socially, here’s an idea: switch off that TV and check these guys out on YouTube. Their core attempt is to ha-ha at the bizarre things that happen in this country ala John Oliver, although Oliver happens to be funnier.
www.youtube.com/user/EastIndiaComedy
The iron is hot enough for the worthy men of the East India Company, who play the satirical fool and hold up a mirror to society. This comic collective has shifted from making fun of Twitter trolls to a slightly more accessible medium of YouTube videos.
Standing By, by Arjun S Ravi
Arjun S Ravi has been reporting on the independent music scene in India for the past decade, and now he has put up all this information in a six-part documentary series. The first episode had interviews from the first acid house musician from India Charanjit Singh and Naresh Fernandes, who has chronicled the jazz scene in the early years of India after independence. The series chronicles important milestones in the independent music scene in India, and has interviews with key figures in the music “industry” to take the narrative forward. The documentary has S Ravi’s voiceover to take the narrative forward. The film has also got its name from the indie pop band Zero’s song Standing By, the reason S Ravi was introduced to the independent music scene in the first place.
www.redbull.com/in/en/music/stories
Pitchers, by The Viral Fever
Pitchers is the most ambitious project yet undertaken by The Viral Fever, (or TVF as they are known). The comedy group has progressed from producing mere sketches to a full-length, episodic series about the burgeoning startup culture in the country. Enter frustrated engineers who label every solitary cigarette with the name of the day they are going to smoke it on; impulsive moves of leaving jobs after abusing bosses; and other assorted inanities make this a rather “Nice-for-the-first-attempt” series. It is especially a hit for the army of skilled workmen who comprise the youth of this country, fighting the corporate structure and dreaming the big Indian startup dream.
tvfplay.com/show/detail/14/pitchers
Man’s World, by Y films
Y films, the youth wing of Yash Raj Films, has come up with a web series that explores what happens when the “man’s world” becomes a “woman’s world”, and when the society comes to be dominated by the female of the spieces. The web series features several celebrities who are part of the series such as Parineeti Chopra, Kalki Koechlin, Richa Chadha, Bhumi Padnekar and Shweta Tripathi, who have all done their bit for gender equality. The show is in support of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development Campaign. The series is also hilarious in bits while driving the message through. The lead is played by Gaurav Pandey, who is being launched by YRF through this web series.
For more, visit Y Film’s channel on YouTube.