“So, are you into investigative journalism, breaking news?” “What are the kind of topics you will be covering or talking about in India?”
“Will you be talking about sex and drugs in India?” “Are you going to be creating documentaries about India?”
These are some of the most common questions I face when I introduce myself as the head of content for Vice India. When the brand you represent has such a strong legacy attached to it and the reputation of being a true challenger of the status quo, it is not surprising to see high levels of curiosity. At every step of defining ourselves as a youth media company, we have to be careful in maintaining a fine balance between being true to the Vice DNA while being true to the pulse of India.
For me, personally, the process of being a part of the brand’s ambition to represent the true voice of India’s youth, starts with empathy. How can anyone be entitled to talk about the current issues, the realities experienced by the youth without having a deep understanding of the environment or the situations they deal with on a day to day basis? Moreover, diversity, regional barriers and cultural richness make it even more imperative for us to go deeper in order to realize the mammoth task of talking about things that matter to kids in India.
While our country’s youth is continuously working towards building a culture that will someday define (or already is defining) how things are done in other parts of the world, we have to be able to depict that journey using the tool of authentic story-telling. And, who better to do that than the young themselves? Indian millennials, being the first cohort to have grown up on digital and to have adopted platforms and practices early on, are the best ones to define our way forward.
At Vice, we initially spent 3-4 months just researching and unwrapping stories that would ultimately help us in defining the narrative and tonality of our content. Who would’ve imagined the scale of longboarding or colloquial rap in our country? Who would’ve imagined the spectrum of conversation that exists around sexuality in our country? For that matter, who would’ve imagined working professionals like UFO investigators or traditional earthquake predictors? Or on a serious note – who out there is discussing the issues of river pollution, sanitation and waste management, in ways that matter to the youth? It takes an honest eye to be able to capture all of this in its true essence and replay it to audiences online who are bombarded with new content every minute, local and global.
Just last month, we launched Kya Bolta Bantai, a 30-minute long form documentary on gully rap – an emerging genre of music that is slowly gaining momentum and entering the mainstream, being co-opted by Bollywood and other commercial ventures. There was a keen sense of immersion required at our end to be able to capture the stories of the kids from the gullies in Mumbai struggling to find comfort in using their vernacular and unique rhythm patterns. A task that cannot be accomplished by a team that does not closely understand the pulse of people they are working with.
Authenticity wins and always has when it comes to story-telling. The challenge we’ve given ourselves is to narrate stories that make kids feel at home with their issues, identities, cultures, and thoughts. If we are able to accomplish that even in a small way, that’s success to me.
