Meet the mothers and children who are trending on social media

Siraja Krishnan and Abhijit Radhakrishnan are not your typical mother-son duo. They flip most of the mother-son tropes in mainstream media on their head. Housewife Shiraja doesn’t struggle with the burden of being a perfect mother. She pulls her son’s leg from time to time and is always ready to challenge Abhijit’s equally humorous counterpart.

Outspoken, spontaneous and outrageously funny, this mother and son are one of the most popular faces on Instagram (@abhii.krish with over 2,45,000 followers). The first reel that Abhijith posted seven months ago featuring her mother went viral within hours (2,26,438 likes). “It was totally unexpected and gratifying to say the least,” said Abhijith, who holds an MBA degree but is also a full-time content creator. Ever since his first superhit video featuring her mother, Abhijit has stuck to his winning formula. He calls out Shiraja #thuglife, who was initially apprehensive about making the move but is now “doing it.” “We are a close-knit family. Amma and I share a close bond. We are not formal with each other,” he says. “We plan and shoot our content, but we often joke that we would have gotten better content if we had just left the camera on,” laughs Abhijit.

The two, who hail from Urunthi in Chengannur, converse in casual Malayalam, and their conversations mostly revolve around everyday life. Siraja whips Abhijeet for not doing her housework, and Abhijeet teases her with gossip about her relatives and their private conversations. Every dinner that day has a twist.

Abhijit said he decided to work with his mother to make the content more relatable to young people, especially those living abroad. “Motherhood is a universal emotion. Many viewers have contacted us to say that we remind them of their mother, homeland and Kerala,” he added.

Mothers from the pre-internet era are now social media stars with die-hard fans. They are keen to participate in the creative process and are aware of what their followers want.

Greeshma Bose, a civil engineer and content creator from Ernakulam, has 300,000 followers on Instagram and frequently collaborates with housewife Sheela Chandrabose. Grieshma has a knack for humor, and her mother is the perfect foil. She maintains such a sense of nonchalance that it leaves her viewers laughing. “At first we started doing Dubsmash together, but Amma wasn’t used to it. It was she who suggested we could make a video using our own voices. We started with a small script. She is quite impatient and doesn’t like to shoot more than three takes,” says Grieshma. But although she was reluctant at first, her mother got used to the process and she now suggests content ideas. “Amma is my biggest supporter. She reads all the comments on my videos, with special emphasis on praise for her,” Greeshma laughs.

Sanathan Shree Krishnan, an independent musician from Chennai, has announced that the first episode of his Anmavum Naanum series by his mother and himself, a Carnatic adaptation of the popular Tamil hit ‘Vasigala’, will be uploaded in 2022. He says he has received an overwhelming response. It has surpassed 400,000 likes on Instagram. “The comments kept pouring in and we got multiple shares. We were shocked and surprised at the same time,” said the freelancer, who has released over 80 of his songs under his own name, including original songs. says Sanathan, who owns it. After his first hit, Sanathan said he felt a responsibility to deliver what people wanted and continued to consistently create musical content with his mother. “Even when we do a cover, Amma suggests adding a fresh twist to it rather than just singing it as is,” he added.

Sanathan’s handle @sanathanogram has close to 1 million followers and is a refreshing and original music library featuring mashups, covers, and Carnatic takes on film songs in various languages. “I post videos every other day and videos with Amma every week, but people like our joint videos better,” says Sanathan. “Amma often jokes that I became famous because of her,” he added.

Her mother, Vasantha Sankaraman, a former music teacher at the Madras Academy of Music, has performed Carnatic concerts at various venues, but the short video format for film songs was relatively new to her. “During the shoot, she was always concentrating on singing. Gradually she started to enjoy it and now it’s a great bonding period for us. She also spends her time with me,” I am enjoying it,” says Sanathan.

Choreographer Biju Dhwani Tharan (@biju_dhwanitharang) and dancer mother Shyamala Xavier from Ernakulam became a hit with their choreography for Ernakulam’s production ‘Harichandana malarile madhuvayi’. Kannezuti Potumtotu. “The number of likes and shares was really surprising, but that video was just an extension of our life filled with dance and music,” says Biju, who shares a deep bond with her mother. . Shyamala, who obtained her PG Diploma from her RLV College of Music and Arts in Bharatanatyam, is affectionately known as her ‘teacher’. “Initially, while shooting the video, I carefully watched Amma to see if she was doing the right moves, but I soon noticed that she was doing better than usual. Even with all the effort, she is a better dancer,” says Biju, who is also a Bharatanatyam alumnus of RLV.

Most of the videos are planned, but there are also the odd spontaneous video. “Amma often comes up with ideas now and asks if she can create a piece for us. We are now working as a creative team,” Biju added.