Actor Melvin G Babu proudly declares he is one of the first among Malayalam content creators on Instagram to be cast as the lead in a film, the February 2023 release Oh My Darling opposite Anikha Surendran. “I was also one of the initial content creators in Malayalam on IG. I have been active since 2017… long before people even knew what it was!” says the 25-year-old. His Instagram handle @ft.guys (Fayankara Talented Guys) has 4,17,000 followers. He joins Malayali digital creators who have acted in Malayalam films such as Steffy Sunny (Palthu Janwar) and Prapti Elizabeth (Jaaneman). Another content creator-actor is Nirmal Pillai (@mahlyf_mahrulez) who recently completed filming his debut Tamil film.
Melvin with Anikha Surendran in Oh My Darling | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru-based Steffy who creates comic content in Malayalam on her eponymous IG handle has more than 3,89,000 followers. Funny and on point, her content resonates with her audience. When she started out on Instagram in 2021, she did not anticipate a career in films until she got a message from writer-producer Syam Pushkaran on Instagram, offering her the role in Palthu Janwar. Brought up in Delhi, she is not familiar with a lot of names in Malayalam cinema, but Syam she had heard of. “I thought ‘why not?’ It was the role of Indrans’ daughter, in a film by Bhavana Studios,” she adds.
Steffy Sunny | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For Steffy, films happened serendipitously, but for actors like Melvin, looking for a break in films, content posted on Instagram Reels has opened doors and presented opportunities like never before. Twenty-four year-old Steffy is now open to a career in films.
“An audition offers you only this much time to showcase your talent, unlike a platform such as Reels where you build a body of work over a period of time with your content. You can show your ‘range’ as an actor,” says Siju Sunny, whose comic take in the blockbuster film Romanchamgarnered appreciation. Some of the film’s other actors, such as Abin Bino, are popular content creators.
Jithu Madhavan, director of Romancham, confesses to being a huge fan of content creators on Reels and YouTube. “We may not have seen most of them on film screens, but these are talented, experienced actors who have been creating content on social media, and have a huge fan following,” he says. Siju jokes about how Jithu has a list of such creators to cast in his subsequent films.
Siju Sunny | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Siju, an engineer, had participated in many auditions, none of which got him a role. Back home during the pandemic, he started making Reels on Instagram, which won him a fan following. “I was uploading videos that showcased my acting skills. This platform gave me more space than any audition could have. There is only this much that one could do at an audition unlike your Instagram handle, and you never know who sees it and the opportunities you land,” he says. His short skits are a combination of the comic and the serious.
Sreerekha who won the 2020 Kerala State Film Award for the Best Character Actress (Veyil) is one such find. The psychologist from Cherthala came to films via Tik Tok, when the director of Veyil, Sarath Menon, saw a minute-long mono-act video she had posted on the now-banned social media platform.
“Although I have not actively pursued acting, I was open to it,” she says. The actor who is in her thirties was last seen in Dear Vaapi (2022). She is a former child artiste who has acted in a few Malayalam films and television serials.
The lockdown got more people experimenting on social media platforms, generating content for Instagram or YouTube. While creators like Siju found followers and access, others like Melvin consolidated their reach. Mining social media for talent works for filmmakers as they find new actors, who also bring in their followers, as in the case of Melvin and Siju. As Jithu says, these actors may not be familiar faces on the big screen but not only are they talented, they also have a following on social media which means they are not rank newcomers.
In the case of Pookkalam, director Ganesh Raj was forced to turn to Instagram when his team could not find a suitable pair of twins for the characters, Dinsy and Donna, through casting calls. “As a last resort I keyed in #keralatwins on Instagram and found the Reels posted by Kavya Das and Navya Das on their handle (@navyadas_kavyadas). I cracked up seeing their work and so we called them in for auditions,” says Ganesh. The twins’ latest release is Neymar.
Akhila Bhargavan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Kannur-based content creator-turned-actor Akhila Bhargavan was surprised when the casting call for AEW came. She had been making cinema-inspired Reels with her husband, Rahul P, a Fire and Rescue officer, on their Instgram handle @ar_reels since their marriage in 2021.
“I wasn’t expecting a casting call, but when it came I decided to give it a shot,” says the 25-year-old. She landed the lead role in Poovan, directed by her AEW co-star Vineeth, opposite Anthony Varghese Pepe and a role in the Soubin Shahir-film Ayalvaashi.
“Social media offers more visibility and even makers don’t have to go looking for talent. This [finding actors on social media] is a good trend,” says Kiran.
Do films get the content creators more followers? “Some. However, we [content creators] are still creating content that organically gets us the followers,” says Akhila whose handle now has one lakh followers, a jump from 40,000-odd followers.
Siju celebrated one lakh followers with a Reel where he thanked followers in April, almost three months after Romancham released. Life has indeed come a full circle for him.
