My Thoughts

Archive for the ‘YouTube’ Category

Why Tamizh YouTube Needs Ethical Content Creators

Posted by: on: December 31, 2025

Let me start this post by paraphrasing what Prem Kumar said in his recent interview,

“When I wanted to make Meiazhagan, people advised me to make it in Malayalam and dub it in Tamizh to make it a success”

The above is the sad reflection of Tamizh audience as well as the content creators right now.

Hiphop Aadi in his interview said that unless Tamizh content creators on social media improve the movie industry will suffer and eventually deteriorate. This is kind of true if you look at the garbage content the people post on YouTube and social media these days. For example the only thing the Tamizh YouTube’ers are interested is their views and subscribers. To gain that they are ready to plunge to any level. The kind of dishonesty I see in our content creators is appalling. I know that there was a phase in Hindi cinema when their content creators resorted to such tactics to increase their subscriber count but again that stemmed out of anger towards their industry but that’s not what is happening in Tamizh.

The biggest issue we have is the lack of ethics from these so called critics and content creators. I am not saying everyone one is like that but the majority are that way. Most of these people are kind of waiting for a bad movie from the industry so that they can milk roasting everyone involved in the film for months but will disappear when a good films comes up. I would like to ask these so called critics who get angered when they are questioned, where are their posts when movies like Madras Matinee or Sirai or Parandhu Po releases? Where do they disappear? For example recently a Tamizh YouTuber took out an interview given by two directors whose films he disliked and created a content to make fun of them using personal attacks.

This is what these people resort to. I agree that people create content on YouTube to make money and having more views and subscribers are essential but again there needs to be some honesty in the content they post. Creating content to appease audience of a certain region seems to be the prime priority of Tamizh YouTubers. The problem though is that the fans are falling for this as well. When the audience and critics don’t praise or promote movies like Madras Matinee, Angammal, Sirai, Paranthu Po etc, they do not have the right to complain about lack of content. This also exposes the hypocrisy of these creators as they keep harping about how bad the content coming from Tamizh cinema is but when something good comes up they have nothing to say. It is as if they are sad that some good film has come and they cannot create a content to attract some trolls to get more views. Some YouTubers are still milking Dude and Coolie to increase their viewership while both those films weren’t that bad in the first place.

The biggest difference between Tamizh content creators and the other South Indian language creators is that they do not get personal about actors or technicians. Yes they criticise the films as well as the actors performances and that’s where they stop. Tamizh media channels and content creators though go an extra step to make everyone believe that it is all doom and gloom in Tamizh cinema which is actually not the case. It is only in Tamizh do we get critics roundtable at the end of the year and no one has any clue about who these people are and what their credentials are. The amount of importance we give to these so called critics is ridiculous. The Tamizh YouTube space is also a testament to the saying that negativity sells. Majority of the YouTube channels create negative content about the industry and they don’t have anything positive to report at most times. All these people somehow disappear when a good film pops up and show up with their content when a movie they consider bad releases.

They also are the masters of making a decent movie into a bad one and they take pride in the same. The audience though need to wake up and not give these so called critics and content creators more attention than they deserve. The industry needs strong voices and audience if we want to see good content coming through from our creators. If movies like Madras Matinee, Paranthu Po, 3BHK or even something like an Aaryan sink without a trace we have no right to complain about good content not being produced from our industry. Yeah it is great that we support and praise Malayalam industry through the roof but again we forget that our industry makes good films as well which needs support.

Good content overall from films as well as creators on social media is essential to improve the overall quality being watched by the audience and right now Tamizh language content on social media is falling way short. While new film makers are doing good work and even films like Aaromaley, Aan Pavam Pollathathu etc are very good, the audience and the critics aren’t lapping those up. Creating false propaganda and showing that the industry is struggling might get their view count and subscriber count up but makes their channel and content unethical.

While these channels expect our film makers to learn from Malayalam cinema, I hope they hear to their own advise as well. Being in the media and on YouTube might give them a bit of license to not follow any of the journalism ethics but again if you want to be a good content creator there needs to be some sort of honesty in the content you produce. Majority of the people in the Tamizh space neither have ethics nor have honesty, so it is hard to take anything they post seriously. This situation needs to change and it squarely depends on the audience who consume such content and to not encourage such trolls who masquerade as content creators. Good content in cinema and on Social media depend on good audience and unless that improves we will not see this situation improve.

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Double standards of Tamizh content creators

Posted by: on: December 5, 2024

The year 2024 began for Tamizh industry with 2 big films release on Pongal. The first one was Dhanush’s Captain Miller and the other was Sivakarthikeyan’s Ayalaan. Both films even though collecting decently at the box office did not impress the critics that much. Following that Tamizh cinema did go through a drought in terms of content and success at the box office. All was not lost though as at the same time we did have movies like Lover and Garudan which were very good.

During that time the Tamizh YouTube content creators had a field day criticising the content and the industry. The one thing they realised as well was that criticising their industry actually got them new fans and subscribers. The constant videos putting down the industry and it’s content and appreciating other industries actually created a new fan base for these creators. The success of Malayalam cinema at the start of the year fueled this change among these creators. We all know how passionate Malayalam cinema fan base is and the Tamizh YouTube content creators took full advantage of that. The fact which was completely ignored during this time was that Tamizh cinema had a great 2023. Even at the end of the year a movie like Parking released to huge critical acclaim but these videos made everyone believe that the industry has been struggling for years.

The same people who posted a video a week to appreciate and promote other industries disappear completely when a good Tamizh cinema releases. This has been a trend and not something new to 2024. Even in the past few years when a good Tamizh content releases these so called experts disappear except for the movie review. There will be no follow up, no appreciation videos etc will be seen from these creators. The second half of the year has been brilliant so far from Tamizh cinema. Starting from the successful Maharaja films like Lubber Pandu, Kottukkali, Meiazhagan, Amaran, Thangalaan, Raayan, Vaazhai etc became critically acclaimed films.

Despite producing such widely accepted content in the second half the narrative of Tamizh cinema struggling is being propagated by these so called experts. Who are these YouTube experts? What is their credentials? Why do we give so much importance to their opinion? These are some questions the audience of these channels need to ask. Anyone who is reporting on something need to have some sort of journalistic ethics. Obviously none of these people have studied journalism have no clue what that means. The major cornerstone of journalism is integrity which many of these people lack. The other most important ethics of journalism is accountability, trust and truthfulness. When we look at these content being posted these days it is just done for the sake of increasing the subscribers count.

If any of these creators had integrity they would have at least posted some appreciation videos later in the year when Tamizh cinema produced some good content. The fact that there are more videos criticising and trolling Kanguva than appreciating a film like Meiazhagan shows the shallowness of these creators. The amount of appreciation videos we see of Meiazhagan, Vaazhai, Lubber Pandu etc from other language creators show how selfish and horrible Tamizh content creators are.

I am not saying don’t appreciate other language films, actually I am saying the opposite. Appreciate good content irrespective of the language and have some integrity when posting content. I agree it takes lots of effort to produce a video, edit it and publish the same and they obviously need subscribers to run a channel but what they are doing right now is unethical. Criticism is important for any industry and if you see content creators from other South Indian languages are harsh on poor content from their industry but none of them go to the extend Tamizh creators go. They don’t put down their industry to appreciate other regions to the level our creators do. Why is that I ask? Is it because we are so insecure that we are afraid of appreciating our industry? Is it because we think if Tamizh cinema is appreciated their subscribers will leave them? I am not completely sure but this needs to stop.

People who are jumping on such creators bandwagon are also to blame including other language fans who actually think these people mean what they post. The fans and creators from other South Indian industries are way ahead of the so called experts from Tamizh. They not only appreciate other industry content but also post a balanced view of their own industry. When Malayalam cinema was doing so well earlier this year we did not see a Telugu YouTuber posting a video attacking their industry nor did we see Kannada content creators doing the same. So why are we doing this is a question we viewers need to ask as well. I don’t mind criticism as not everyone has to like a film. There are a lot of them who did not like Meiazhagan as well which is fine as it is their prerogative but their needs to be some kind of fairness in the content they post on their channels. When you troll or post negative reviews of a film, appreciate good content as well. Don’t just post videos to appease fans from other industries for the sake of subscribers, it just looks bad.

I am not saying everyone is bad, there are a few good ones here and there but again when you have so many poor ones good ones are hard to find. While social media has made it easier for a common man to dabble with journalism the ethics of such a role should still remain valid. While proper journalist and reviewers will refrain from trolling or posting polarising content just to increase subscribers these self proclaimed experts do it only for subscribers. I am a fan of Indian cinema and watch content from all languages if the content interests me. Never have I appreciated an industry just to put down the other, even when talking with my friends. Good content comes from all industries and so do the bad ones. At the end of the year every industry at the maximum will have only 10-15 films which remain in our minds. Even Malayalam industry known for its content cannot buck that trend. No one can say an industry produced 50 great films a year, that is not possible. The fact everyone knows and still we promote and support such creators who make us believe otherwise.

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Lack of sensitivity from people is appalling

Posted by: on: November 1, 2024

I normally don’t write about such things as I normally don’t care about what people are posting on YouTube or on social media but this one hit me hard. Over the last decade we know that reaction channels have become a thing and they have all kind of become self proclaimed experts on everything. We as an audience don’t question their credentials or their expertise on a subject and just view their videos and put them on a pedestal. The biggest gainers of this wave have been foreign Youtubers. The channels which had hardly any subscribers or views jumped on the Indian bandwagon to increase their popularity.

There have been a lot of them who have propped up recently. There are a few channels who actually give respect to the content they are watching and to the culture of the people whose content they are reacting on but not everyone does that. Recently I saw a reaction of a Tamizh trailer reaction by an American reaction channel. The trailer was of the movie Amaran, a movie which is close to the heart of all the Indians. A story of courage, valor and sacrifice of Major Mukund Varadarajan. I have no issues with people watching something and saying it is not for them or they did not like the content they are watching but to outright make fun of what is happening on the screen is appalling.

Making fun of the person who isn’t alive and his family who went through tremendous pain shows what sort of people we have been supporting. The way they were laughing at Sai Pallavi, who is actually playing the role of the wife of the Major, Indhu Rebecca Varghese was horrible to watch. Knowing very well that this a story about a real life person and about his family and to still make fun of the characters in the movie is a new low. You don’t have to actually be a Army family to understand loss of human life and the impact it creates on the immediate family. One of the reactors says she does not connect to the sentiment as she is not from the region is the most ridiculous comment I have heard in recent times.

The fact of the matter is that all countries have their Military forces and this is a universal story. Even if we cannot resonate with their pain we can all relate to the loss the family faces when they lose a loved one. Here is a story of a wife who lost her husband, a kid who lost her father and parents who lost their son and all you could do is laugh at them? This is poor. I am sorry I have lost all respect to that channel and I at least will not watch any videos from any of them in that panel. I don’t have issues people criticising content of the film based on the making or the story etc but to make fun of characters knowing very well that this is not a work of fiction is something I cannot get past. People need to realise that none of these people have any attachment or connection to our films but just do it because they get lots of views and subscribers. I am not saying everyone is bad, there are very good ones who actually take an effort and these people are not them.

I don’t want to mention their channel or any names here as that is not my intention. When you watch something like that you just can’t look past it which is the reason for my rant.

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