The name, Gappiya is undoubtedly the most unique name, of almost all YouTubers in the country. Everyone knows him regardless of age. He started his YouTube channel with the video named, “The foreign bullshit” and gained so much popularity for “It’s OK Baby” (ඉට්ස් ඕකේ බේබි) which went viral and the term later got added to day-to-day conversations as well. He has about half a million followers and his channel has more than 60,000 hits per day with 700 new subscribers every week. So, this time we thought of bringing you the story of Tharindu Wijesekara a.k.a Gappiya and his YouTube channel.
“Gappiya” was how his school friends used to call him. “I was skinny and short, used to run very fast. Then, it became my stage name.” At present, living in a small country town in New South Wales, Australia, he works part time as a media consultant, and has migrated when he was about 20 years with the intention of studying Graphic Designing. Gappiya says after he met his Australian girlfriend, whom he calls, “My Suddi”, he decided to permanently settle down in Australia. “Suddi lived in a very small country town, so there weren’t many jobs around. I was looking for work for months and was getting very frustrated. Since I had a lot of time on my hand, I decided to make a movie.
I always had a passion for film making. I uploaded and shared the videos I made on my YouTube account which I already had. I received a good feedback, and therefore, kept on making more videos.”
Gappiya says, he loved story telling since he was a kid and loved drawing and reading comic books too. His brother who shared the same interests, bought their first computer and started installing almost every software available.
“Those days you could buy a CD full of software for just 100 rupees. I was so fascinated and started learning them, which are now called “The creative suite”. Although I had the knowledge to edit a video I did not have a recording device. In 2011-2012, I managed to buy a DSLR and started video recording,” he says.
Commenting on his most famous video up-to-date, “It’s OK Baby”, Gappiya said, he honestly has no idea why it went viral and people liked it. He says, he didn’t even like some of the scenes but decided to upload them anyway.
When asked about his notion as to what type of videos usually go viral Gappiya says, “I wish I can tell you. I made close to 200 videos and only a couple went viral.
If I knew how to make my content go viral I would have made all of them go viral. However, particular subject matters, such as, romance, sex, gossip and politics are quite appealing to the Sri Lankan audience. Then again, I cannot think of a set formula.”
He finds human behaviour fascinating and says that although he bases his videos on whatever that catches his interest, in most of the videos he uses his experiences learnt when associating with different types of people. Gappiya thinks it is time he made his content serve a purpose and is keen on including content that Sri Lanka needs.
“So, I recently started a new channel called Gappiya Thinking which is a self development content space. My whole purpose is to give people the strength to dream big and start making a change in their community. This may sound silly for some but I strongly believe that Sri Lanka has the potential to be a first world country and produce world class leaders, artists and entrepreneurs.”
Gappiya strongly believes that a YouTuber in the Sri Lankan content space has a great responsibility towards the community. And, that the mass media is always polluted with political monopoly. “Nobody owns or controls the digital space, so, as YouTubers we have ultimate control. The growth of YouTubers gives space for free thinkers and free expressionists, therefore, the audience gets to enjoy diverse content. As a developing nation we need to encourage free thinking.”
Gappiya says, his family in Sri Lanka hardly comment on his videos or watch them. However, his Suddi and her parents always comment on the videos, “and that’s why I always have English subtitles, so they can understand what I am saying.”
To fellow YouTubers and those who wish to become one he says, “Do it if you really love the process. The outside world only sees the glamour. In reality it’s a lot of stress, frustration and lonely nights. Even if you do mange to build an audience you need to figure out how to make regular content for them.
One day, they might be interested to watch your content, the next day they might not and you will never know why. So, if you want to become a YouTuber just because you think it’s cool or you think you want to become famous, quit now!”
Gappiya, thanking all those who supported him through the years says, “I want to say thank you to all my fans. You guys are “Pull Marvellous.”