This post is part of our regular series of interviews with people across Asia-Pacific who’ve caught our eye, using the Internet to create, connect and grow. This week, we’re featuring The Viral Fever and All India Bakchod, the first independent creator groups in India to get 1 million subscribers on their YouTube channels.
How would you describe your YouTube channel in one sentence
All India Bakchod (AIB): As India's largest comedy collective, All India Bakchod is irreverent, biting, goofy, filmy, sharp, super sexy and extremely modest.
The Viral Fever (TVF): Our flagship YouTube channel - TheViralFeverVideos - is dedicated to creating the content India’s youth want, but can’t find, on TV.
What was the breakthrough moment for you on YouTube?
AIB: That would have to be our video titled 'It's Your Fault', which satirized the culture of victim blaming in India. We didn't anticipate it then, but given the pervasive nature of rape culture globally, audiences across the world identified with the message. Given that it is an issue we feel strongly about, along with the fact that it was translated into 10 languages and even played at the UN, makes it one of our most significant efforts.
TVF: Our first video:
Rowdies (on TheViralFeverVideos). We believe it was one of the first made-for-YouTube videos to go viral in India and that was when we realized we had something special to offer Indians - a fresh commentary.
TVF's "Barely Speaking With Arnub" gets amazing guests, and then ignores them.
India is home to Bollywood which produces more movies and sells more movie tickets than any other country. You, as online stars, have just crossed 1 million subscribers on YouTube. What do you think this means for entertainment and content creation in India?
AIB: We're all here to entertain and YouTube gives audiences so many more options, which means that traditional entertainment will have to eventually sit up and take notice. The silver screen is always going to hold a certain appeal, especially in a country like India, but there's more than enough scope for the two to play off each other and create opportunities that we are only just beginning to see.
TVF: Our flagship channel now reaches the same amount of people as some niche channels that run regularly on TV. If you create quality content, then the audience will follow. With YouTube, you can also engage with the people who watch you, and understand what it is that makes them stop and laugh.
Tell us about your fans: Are you reaching audiences outside of India? What do you think drives audiences in India and beyond to your content?
AIB: First up, our fans are ridiculously loyal and patient, which never ceases to amaze us. And yes, as it turns out, audiences from outside India are also watching us. What works is that a bunch of people who look like them and sound like them are saying things in an unexpected manner. We're a bunch of ordinary Indians creating content about the various aspects of Indianness — and we're making them laugh as hard as many of our western counterparts.
TVF: 20-25% of our audiences are in US, UK, UAE and Canada. What helped us reach millions of people was our sensitivity in creating content fans can relate to and also the fact that we work we hard on our craft — writing, directing, editing and acting.
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