Women should have space in entertainment: Sumukhi Suresh

Comedian-turned-actress Sumukhi Suresh, who has launched her own content platform named 'Motormouth', to create more space for female voices in the entertainment space, says mediocre content does not find audiences, as only 'too good' or 'too bad' content gets all the eyeballs.

Sharing the thought behind 'Motormouth', Sumukhi said: "We all have realised that throughout the pandemic, writers and content creators became the busiest people in the creative space. We have seen how so many content creators started mushrooming in the last two years.

"The fun fact is that only two kinds of content work in the digital space, it is either too good or too bad. You have to watch too good content because of peer pressure as a good film/story/content gets attention through word of mouth. And also if the content is too bad, we tend to watch together and bitch about it! So basically there is no room for mediocrity."

So, where does 'Motormouth' stand? Sumukhi said: "It is intended to encourage the too good content coming from various writers and mostly female writers. I am creating content along with a few other writers and we are working in a writers room. So I thought I might as well put a name to it and welcome more such like-minded talents to develop stories and eventually approach production houses."

'Motormouth' is a story marketplace and content house that will create and promote shows, movies and a variety of other content. Sumukhi is known for her standup comedy shows in live gigs, for participating and mentoring shows such as 'Comicstaan' and 'One Mic Stand', and creating the Amazon Prime Video show 'Pushpavalli', where she made her acting debut.

Asked about why she feels the need to create more space for female content creators and storytellers, Sumukhi said: "I think that is so very important to have a space for women in entertainment. And when I am saying 'voice', it does not have to be a protest or social messaging all the time; it can just be fun!

"Writing jokes on girls and taking them with a pinch of salt, laughing about it is equally fun! For me, four girls coming together and having their own banter is equally feminist! Of course, the conversation around gender equality is important, but we can convey the message in the form of entertainment.

"That is the reason why more female voices should come out. Now, when someone calls me a 'female comedian', I don't mind the tag because seeing me, if a girl somewhere gets inspired and writes her own story, that is the end goal I want to reach!"