When we meet up with Mujeeb Padikka, he’s excessive up within the Idukki hills scouting for his subsequent reel. “That is pretty much my weekend routine. I pick a spot, stop at a local tea shop and get the tea seller to dish out little nuggets of local wisdom. You might get a tip on a hidden viewpoint or even the next bus schedule,” he says. Mujeeb, a techie from Kochi, is a high content material creator who shares reels on his Instagram deal with, @tripwithmp.
A drone shot of Kumbalangi
| Photo Credit:
Mujeeb Padikka
We have lengthy revelled in Kerala’s beautiful landscapes from the bottom and Mujeeb belongs to the rising neighborhood of drone lovers who are lifting our gaze skyward, providing an awe-inspiring perspective of the state’s picturesque terrain. From the luxurious nostalgia of Kollengode to the rhythmic dance of the snake boats on the backwaters of Alappuzha, the mist embracing Munnar’s tea plantations, and in every single place in between, these content material creators are re-imagining the acquainted sights in methods now we have by no means seen earlier than. Their pictures and reels draw thousands and thousands of views on social media, such because the viral reel of a cricket floor amid the dense greenery in Varandarapally, Thrissur, by Sreejith S (@notonthemap). Each of these frames is a love letter to Kerala, reaffirming the state’s popularity as a tourism haven.
Mujeeb Padikka
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“Kerala is a drone pilot’s dream because of the diversity of the landscape. We have beaches, backwaters, lagoons, islands, mountains… And the best part? It is beautiful in every season,”says Mujeeb.
Capturing the right shot typically takes multiple go to. “It is rare to get the shot in one go. Lots of things have to line up — the wind, the weather, the sunlight, the drone, the bus…” explains Mujeeb, including, “I do not recall the reel that first hit one million views but I do remember my first reel that hit 25 million views — of a lone bus winding through Kadamakudy. It took me three visits and multiple tries!”
Arun P Jose
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Just throughout the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, Arun P Jose, higher generally known as dronolphy to his practically 900K followers, is on the street, driving by the windmills of Nagercoil, in search of his subsequent reel. “It is not just the beauty but also the unhurried rhythm of life, the softness, the stillness, that add extra magic to reels. That kind of quiet charm is rare to come by,” says Arun, who’s a bit of a legend throughout the drone pilot neighborhood.
A cardamom planter from Kattappana, Idukki, Arun was among the many first to embrace the pattern again in 2018. His reels launched us to the now-iconic misty ridges of Kolukkumalai and the rani pink water lilies of Malarikkal, Kottayam.
Arun can be broadly credited as the primary drone pilot in Kerala to layer nostalgic music onto footage, including a cinematic contact that has since develop into a genre-definer. “Discovering drone photography saved me from crashing and burning as an alcoholic,” says Arun, candidly. “It has become my new high! I have not touched a drop since I first started experimenting with a toy drone that I bought online.”Arun has since graduated to collaborations with main world manufacturers like DJI and continues to encourage hundreds.
Catching up with the pattern
While drone pictures has technically been round for the reason that early 2010s, when reasonably priced, user-friendly fashions first hit the market, it is just in the previous few years that the pattern has taken flight in Kerala. Most critical hobbyists depend on high-end, imported drones, which require official registration and are not available in India. The lack of clear tips for drone operations provides to the uncertainty. Despite this the curiosity has surged.
Abu Joy Jacob
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“Last year, when I was at the Champakulam Moolam Boat Race, there were three hobbyist drone pilots. This year, there were 14, including me,” says younger Abu Joy Jacob, a communications specialist, and a rising identify within the drone neighborhood.
A drone shot of Himalayan Para in Pathanamthitta
| Photo Credit:
Abu Joy Jacob
Abu makes use of his Instagram deal with, @_letsflyy_, to showcase the often-overlooked magnificence of Pathanamthitta, his dwelling district.
“I live in upper Kuttanad, in the western end of the district, and my mother’s family is from Seethathode, in the east. As a child, I often travelled to and fro, passing Aranmula, Ranni, Chittar and Maniyar; destinations that always sparked my imagination. Now, with my drone, Iget to see the same places from the sky, from angles I could never reach on foot.”
A drone shot of Laha enroute Sabarimala
| Photo Credit:
Abu Joy Jacob
The rise of short-form movies like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts created this enormous demand for visually beautiful, bite-sized content material. Simultaneously, developments in drone know-how have made it simpler for creators to seize cinematic-style footage with comparatively little technical coaching. Paired with accessible modifying instruments, these skybound storytellers can now produce professional-looking content material from their telephones or laptops.
Most of these critical hobbyists use ‘normal’ drones, with built-in stabilisation and maneuverability, which require little-to-no coaching to function (content material creation is one other ability altogether!).
Nithin Prabhakar
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Then there’s Nithin Prabhakar (@kidufpv), an expert photographer-turned-“drone cinematographer” from Chengannur, who’s among the many few FPV (First-Person View) drone pilots. It is a high-speed strategy that locations viewers proper within the center of the motion. Think zooming alongside the Vembanad on a snake boat from the angle of one of the rowers.
Or, spiralling contained in the maranakkinar (Well of dying), together with the motorcyclist, in Hanumankind’s worldwide hit, Big Dawgs, which, by the way, Nithin himself filmed! “That’s the kind of visceral storytelling that FPV makes possible,” says Nithin, who has labored in quite a few movies from Vijay Devarakonda’s Liger to the most recent Sumathi Valavu.
“FPVs are custom-built for speed and batteries last just three minutes. You have to be fast, focused and fully present. There is no autopilot. It is just you and the drone,” explains Nithin.
Whether it’s FPV or regular drones, one factor stays fixed, in response to all these pilots. “Flying a drone is like building a relationship. You learn its quirks, limits and how far you can push it. And in return it gives you access to perspectives you could never reach on your own,” says Mujeeb.
