‘Epified’ is becoming a sensation on Facebook by busting myths through whiteboard animation

Mythology has always been a part of the Indian psyche, but modern Indian comic ventures have added a contemporary twist to it. One such venture is Epified, a new channel on YouTube, which zooms in on lesser known aspects of Indian mythologies through an interesting mode of storytelling – whiteboard animation.

An initiative of one of India’s largest multi-channel networks Culture Machine Media Pvt Ltd., the men behind Epified are Odia author Vijayendra Mohanty and Mumbai-based Girish Malap. While Vijayendra writes and directs the content on Epified, Malap brings to life all the episodes through his art.

They say Epified channel is an attempt to bring Indian and world culture to the Internet generation in the form of brief but informative videos.

“Our definition of culture includes mythology and history, since the two so often feed each other. We are using whiteboard animation as our medium as it is simple and very suited to communicating and explaining ideas,” the author says.

To achieve the goal, they are creating multiple streams of videos. Epified’s top videos are adaptations of writings by well-known authors who write on culture including Devdutt Pattanaik.

“In addition, Epified has started its own weekly series ‘The Mahabharata’, something which has been very well-received. We are also putting up more than one short clip every week explaining philosophical concepts and re-introducing gods, heroes, and masters from India’s cultural heritage,” Vijayendra informs.

The YouTube channel (youtube.com/epified) that was opened last month already has 7K subscribers.

He believes that mythology never goes out of fashion. Since storytelling is all about different ways of looking at things, every retelling acquires its own life. This is why there is always an audience for mythology.

“Epified aims at anyone who likes to listen to stories and acquire new views,” he says. In fact, the Facebook page of the venture (facebook.com/epified) receives feedback from people of all ages. The author adds that one of the reasons behind the success of Epified is the ubiquity of online video in this digital age.

“Consuming books and comics is easy, consuming video is easier. In fact, you will probably not be wrong if you think of Epified videos as a new kind of motion comics,” he says.

Since Epified aims at bringing history and mythology to life, a lot of research goes during the writing stage and making of each of the episodes.

“Since there is no taking back a video once it is out there, there is little margin for error. So we take all the care possible,” says Vijayendra, who has also authored ‘Ravanayan’, a 10-part comic series based on Ramayana from Ravana’s perspective and his personal journey to become the biggest villain Hindu mythology ever witnessed.

He says the readers are responding pretty well to reading mythology and ancient culture through comics. However, Vijayendra sees a gradual shift from mythological re-tellings to the creation of new stories which may or may not be based on mythology. He says the comic book industry is in a state of flux right now, which is a good thing.

Vijayendra says the short-term goal is to make Epified a smart online location for people who want to do more than just pass their time.

“Epified will be the place people come to, to learn and understand our cultural heritage. We already have the ‘Epified Original’ series where we have covered varied topics like the mystery behind Subhash Chandra Bose’s death as well as Gods vs Superheroes.

Soon we will also be launching Culture Machine’s first ever Video Book, a start to finish audio-visual online version of some of the most interesting literatures of our times. Our long-term goal is to build a body of work that stands the test of time, something that remains relevant 100 years from now as well,” he signs off.

Apart from Epified, Culture Machine also owns and runs other popular YouTube channels such as Being Indian, Put Chutney, Blush and Whack.

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