A whopping 33,468 subscribers in less than five months is no silly feat for a YouTube channel. And Liju Thomas, the founder of Ponmutta, a Malayalam sketch comedy YouTube channel, is on cloud nine.
Liju, an ardent fan of channels like Jordindian and Timeliners, realised that such entertaining and quality content need to be available in Malayalam as well. The idea of Ponmutta took shape in Liju's mind one-and-a-half years back. After a long research and conceiving ideas Malayalis can personally relate to, he officially launched Ponmutta on YouTube in November, 2018. It was a friend of his, a graphic designer, who helped him with the logo designing and poster works.
“Ponmutta, meaning golden egg, is a striking title through which we are getting better attention from the viewers. We release a video every two weeks," says Liju.
Liju is thrilled to introduce his cast that includes Enga Veetu Mapillai-fame Seetha Lakshmi, Shyam, Bijo, Vishnu, Sooraj, Greeshma and Pooja. “We don’t strictly follow a script pattern. We prefer to include improvisation by the actors. They have the freedom to enact and deliver their own dialogues according to the situation,” Liju adds.
Asked about the social media comments accusing Ponmutta of aping another famous YouTube channel in Malayalam, Liju laughs and says that people find resemblance between the two because online vines in Malayalam have a single pattern comprising tightly-packed story lines without jump cuts and lagging.
Liju, however, is positive about the criticisms. He asserts that they are part of the game and that they have always helped improve the quality of their videos. Those who
initially ridiculed them are now waiting for their next videos.
Liju is also of the opinion that Malayalis always welcome content they can connect with, which is why Ponmutta is constantly trying to bring out benchmark-setting videos.
Presently, Liju is busy with the production of a one-of-its-kind web series in Malayalam – The adventures of Unni Vasco, a comedy thriller that will soon be broadcast on YouTube.
