At a time when a cartoonist gets arrested for making fun of the establishment, when the so-called gatekeepers of Indian culture spar over a work of fiction, satire might be the only resort to not fall into the trap of the very Indian right-to-get-offended culture.
Temple Monkeys, the YouTube channel founded by Vijay Varadharaj six years ago, takes on current issues like piracy, NEET, and packs the videos with pop-culture references to make it palatable for the Internet generation. The videos are short, pithy and almost in all the cases drive home the point.
Armed with their unique brand of humour and an army of loyalists ready to help to bring ideas to life, Vijay and his channel have risen into prominence over the past year. Many of the actors in the videos have gone on to do film roles — that is the kind of attention that this channel commands. Vijay wants to entertain his audience as well as inform them about social issues.
Their latest video is on cuss words and it comes with a mandatory headphones warning. The clever title also serves as an ingenious warning. It is hilarious and in many ways very similar to other Temple Monkeys works. The humour borders on the controversial, the dialogues are laced with profanity and yet, the content is instantly appealing.
In their anti-piracy video, Vijay Varadharaj imagines a scene in which the Tamil Rockers’ sleeper cell leader is shown the daily travails of an average film production manager. Its spot-on humour and accurate depiction of a production manager has managed to get over one lakh views.
In a video about Mani Ratnam’s Kaatru Veliyidai, the man teaches a group of bored cinephiles the many ways one should watch a Mani Ratnam film and has an impromptu Q&A session on the Karthi-Aditi Rao Hydari starrer. An over-enthusiastic fan even asks Professor Rangabashyam (one of the characters that keeps appearing in the videos) a very intimate question about the film’s lead characters which he addresses in his typical pseudo-serious tone. It’s all in good fun, though.
Rangabashyam makes yet another funny and profane appearance in ‘Professor and his parameters’. This time, the professor dishes out expert advice on all things related to the world of pornography. From Mia Khalifa’s imminent Bollywood debut (or so he thinks) to the many classifications in porn, Vijay Varadharaj and team are at their hilarious best. The first-time viewers might get shocked, but for the hard core Temple Monkeys fans, this video is right up their alley.
In association with Put Chutney, the group churned out a spoof on Suriya and his triple act in 24. The popular video is also a lesson in the many ways one can use Suriya’s oft used dialogue – Naan Oru Watch Mechanic, Enakku Idhellam Sarvasaadharanam to great effect.
Image Courtesy: Facebook Page Of Temple Monkeys
