Tag: Tanmay Bhat

Multi-day, multi-city, multi-genre comedy festival – The Circuit – launched by OML Entertainment

MUMBAI – Comedy’s never been taken this seriously before. OML Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the creators of India’s decade-old and much-loved Happiest Music Festival- Bacardi NH7 Weekender, have announced the first edition of a massive comedy festival called The Circuit. From March 7-15, the festival will travel to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

The lineup for all three cities is out, with all shows for Delhi and Bangalore being live, and part of the Mumbai calendar of shows being out. With a mixture of smaller club shows and auditorium shows, the festival is designed to offer innovative and unique experiences to audiences who enjoy comedy with stand-up comedy in various forms – specially curated lineups, women’s showcases, LGBTQ shows, regional comedy with shows being released for Marathi and Malayalam shows as well as formats such as debates, quizzing, various comedy games and much more. The lineup features over 100 comedians from across the country – for a variety of shows both big and small, with interesting lineups sure to appeal to a wide range of people, including comedians like Aakash Gupta, Rohan Joshi, Radhika Vaz, Tanmay Bhat, Anu Menon, Saikiran, Urjita Wani, Zakir Khan and more.

After kicking off in Delhi and Bangalore on March 7-8, the festival will run in Mumbai from March 11-15. After a packed calendar of shows from March 11-14, the festival will conclude with a grand finale – The Festival Circuit – in Jio Garden on March 15. This event will see a series of different performances by a strong lineup of over 20 comedians, and will be an all day outdoor event with comedy fans getting a taste of various types and formats of comedy. With just one ticket, the audience can see 5 different shows at the grand finale of the festival.

“As OML, we've had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented comedians from around the country and abroad. The Circuit is our celebration of the versatility of the genre and the messages it can hold. It will not only bring together a diverse range of shows from comics to sketch troupes, debates and game formats – but also venues, partners and artists that make the landscape as vibrant as it is. We're proud to be working with curators who have pulled together a great lineup ranging from regional comedy to unique ideas such as roast battles and comedy tag team, making sure there's something for every comedy fan” said Gunjan Arya, CEO, OML Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

OML worked with specific comedy curators to program the festival who brought together new formats of comedy to give a varied experience across venues, comedian styles and cities to put together a festival that distinguishes The Circuit from other comedy events in the country. Rohan Desai said, “We are very excited to be curating this festival that will feature a wide variety of concept shows which will be a unique one-time experience. The jokes and performances you see in these shows will never be repeated again.” Shreemayee Das added, “A few of the concept shows will actually be happening in tournament style – like a cricket world cup. So it will be very interesting to follow the progress of different teams and see which comedians will win the finals.” Reuben Kaduskar said, “This was a very exciting opportunity, because I got the chance to collaborate with artists from all over the country, and from an audience perspective, it's perfect because they get to see some of the best talent all at one place. Other than the game shows, what's unique about this festival is that a lot of the comedians are doing their brand new one hour solo shows for the first time ever.”

Four different show types are on the cards to give different sorts of comedy experience to the . The Club Circuit will have intimate venues with curated programming. The Theatre Circuit will have bigger showcases with a diverse lineup of different comedians performing to bigger audiences. Circuit X shows will have exclusive showcases. The Festival Circuit will see an all day outdoor event at Jio Garden on March 15.

There’s more to be announced with more shows coming soon in Mumbai.

Get ready to do The Circuit of comedy in your city.

Details for shows in all cities can be seen at www.thecircuit.in.

City Specific Pages

Mumbai – https://insider.in/the-circuit-comedy-festival-mumbai/article

Delhi – https://insider.in/the-circuit-comedy-festival-delhi/article

Bangalore – https://insider.in/the-circuit-comedy-festival-bangalore/article

February 7, 2020
On Air with AIB Season 3 returns on Hotstar

Mumbai : With two wildly successful seasons under their belt, India’s best known comedians are back with the third season of On Air with AIB on Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform. The new season kicks off today, and will feature episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, exclusively on Hotstar.

The AIB team have spent two previous seasons on Hotstar cutting absurdities down to size, but the gap between seasons has provided lots more fodder for a whole new set of episodes featuring issues that don’t get called out enough.

From the issue of open defecation to the woes of unmarried young lovers who are denied accommodation, the discussions run the full gamut and served up with often scathing, always hilarious commentary. With every episode, be prepared to laugh along with the inimitable quartet at their refreshing take on topics that matter.

In the words of a Hotstar spokesperson, “The group have caused ripples during the first two seasons and elicited plenty of laughs, so it made perfect sense to keep going! With a fresh and exciting take on the day-to-day issues facing the country, AIB has a unique way of addressing the hairiest of topics with their unique brand of comedy while appealing to a wide range of audiences.”

On Air with AIB Season 3 will see Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya presenting their signature satirical take on the social issues facing the country. With a brand of humour that brings to the forefront the contradictions inherent in modern life, no bridge is too far for them. This season will feature three segments that will see a host of topical issues covered on Mondays, followed by a deep dive into a particular topic on Wednesdays, while Fridays will see an ad hoc, off-the-wall conversation, Off-Script, between the quartet and a special guest on their favourite bugbears, of which there are many. Tempt not their wrath, or you might just end up in their sights!

You can watch the first episode here –

https://www.hotstar.com/tv/on-air-with-aib/s-373/seasons/season-3/ss-6020

September 24, 2018
Tupperware agency Pulp Strategy milks AIB post

MUMBAI: In today’s age of cutthroat competition, it is beyond a shadow of doubt that opportunities have become very scarce. However, if you keep your eyes on your target and ear on the ground, you can make wonders happen, and that’s precisely what Pulp Strategy a multi-award winning full-service marketing agency did.

Recently content creator All India Bakchod (AIB) had a post on Instagram which created a buzz. AIB asks its followers a random question under #AIBJagraata. This time, the question was “What’s that one thing in your house that your mother loves more than you?”

The replies naturally included Tupperware given the strong market positioning of the kitchen accessory brand. But, Tupperware India (with its end-to-end marketing managed by Pulp Strategy) left no stone unturned to tap into this now-prevailing opportunity. The agency’s social media listening team proactively participated in the ongoing discussion and further amplified the overall engagement by taking it off to its own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram handles.

Pulp Strategy founder and managing director Ambika Sharma said, “At Pulp Strategy, we do not merely create opportunities, but also ensure that we tap into every single one that surfaces anytime, anywhere. This all-embracive approach is what has helped us in staying ahead of the curve always. I’m proud that the team at Pulp Strategy has yet again upheld that culture.”

Within 24 hours, Tupperware India reached out to more than 25,000 people on Facebook and 1,686 people on Instagram, and all of that, without spending a single penny. The whole activity also caught the attention of Tanmay Bhat, the co-founder of AIB, who retweeted the Tupperware India post.

This year, the marketing agency had also conceptualised and executed the #PressForConfidence campaign for Tupperware around International Women’s Day. The innovative campaign effectively used Facebook’s newly-released ‘press and hold’ feature to create an interactive content series and received massive participation on the social media platform.

August 9, 2018
Taco Bell wants to make potato great again with new campaign

MUMBAI: Taco Bell is set to make its way into the hearts of potato lovers across India. The brand has just launched a unique potato centric take on the traditional taco. The all new Crispy Potaco will give this much-loved vegetable a new identity where it will no longer play the sidekick in most meals.

The potato has been discriminated against for far too long. The mighty spud suffers silently as it is crushed between burger buns, forced into a samosa, drowned in ketchup. The potato is oppressed. Why isn’t anyone speaking up? Because frankly, we’ve taken the potato for granted.

When Taco Bell presented a product which has the potential to make potato great, Ogilvy stepped up to the challenge. The Crispy Potaco from Taco Bell has been promoted in a digital film starring Tanmay Bhat, an Indian comedian.

Tanmay pitches the product to investors, who are floored by the novelty of the product. With the potato being on the outside, the Crispy Potaco lets the potato really shine through, so much so, that you will want to put your money behind it.

Ogilvy Delhi vice president and head of digital Sidharth Shukla says, “Everyone was geared up, all set to break previous milestones that we had established on both the creative and the business front. And for a product variety that we eat so much of, but barely give it a second thought.”

The brand’s first choice for this campaign was Tanmay, because of his ability to capture audiences through his humorous and entertaining content.

https://www.facebook.com/tanmaycomedy/videos/1764059127008578

June 22, 2018
Amazon Prime to stream new originals in reality series format

MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video India has announced the creation of multiple Unscripted Originals (reality shows) for India, a first for a digital streaming service.

The lineup comes to life with three new reality shows – Jestination Unknown, The Remix and Comic Kaun featuring industry stalwarts such as Vir Das, Anu Menon, Amit Trivedi, Sunidhi Chauhan and Nucleya; and comedians Tanmay Bhat, Sumukhi Suresh and Abish Mathew. With this foray into reality shows, Amazon Prime Video is once again changing the way video content is created and consumed in India.

Prime Video head of content – Asia Pacific James Farrell said, “Reality shows are now more popular than ever, across a variety of genres. Customers globally have told us how much they enjoy reality shows, like the Japanese Prime Video fan favorite, The Bachelor Japan. With the launch of multiple new Original reality shows, we’re aiming to offer our Indian customers a variety of quality new reality content to enjoy.”

Amazon Prime director – content Vijay Subramaniam said “We’re always looking for new ways to engage with our customers. We know Indians enjoy reality TV, so we are creating new originals with the best new concepts and local Indian talent. We’re excited to add more variety to our service, and continue to reinvent the way Indian customers watch TV.”

Amazon revealed details of three reality shows which include a mix of comedy, music, travel and experiential content.

Jestination Unknown: Jestination Unknown will be a six-episode travelling comedy show that follows celebrated Indian comedian, Vir Das, and a rotating group of his comic friends. As each episode explores a new city across India, Das and his comic friends will explore the most important question of this show: what does India find funny, what doesn’t it find funny, how does the whole package of local culture – be it food, folklore, music, dance – change the perspective of a stand-up comedian, and their quest for comedy in India. Each episode will feature a series of sketches, vignettes, keen insights into how a comedian ticks, and will, eventually, culminate to a new stand-up comedy performance based on the group’s experience in the current city.

Some of the talent that will feature in the show, produced by ‘Weirdass’, along with Vir Das include Sharul Channa, Anu Menon, Kavi Shastri and Ashwin Mushran.

The Remix: Based on an established format that has been sold in 15 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe, The Remix will be a 10-episode music reality competition show where DJs and singers pair up to create remixes and compete for a big prize. In each episode, the DJ/singer pairs will reinterpret a popular song in a new style or format, which will change from challenge to challenge. At the end of every performance, a panel of celebrity judges will choose who advances and who will be eliminated. The Remix will be the first series to incorporate a DJ and electronic music, but will feature many of the same core storytelling elements as its predecessors.

Some of the talent that will feature as judges in the show, produced by ‘Grey Matter’, will include Nucleya, Sunidhi Chauhan and Amit Trivedi.

Comic Kaun (Working Title): Comic Kaun will be a 10-episode nationwide hunt to find India’s next big comic sensation. A panel of top comedian judges will preside over a pool of emerging comedians in India who will compete for the coveted prize. Each episode will focus on a specific comedy genre (e.g. anecdotal, observational, and improvisational) and the judges will serve as mentors in their genre of expertise. Comic Kaun offers an opportunity to embrace this genre in a fresh, new competition format that has not been used in India yet.

Some of the talent that will feature in the show, produced by ‘OML’, will include well-known comics Abish Mathew and Sumukhi Suresh as the hosts along with top comedians like Tanmay Bhat, Kenny Sebastian, Naveen Richard, Aadar Malik, Sapan Verma, Kanan Gill, Kaneez Surka and Biswa Kalyan Rath.

August 23, 2017
Few Brave Men: AIB’s journey so far on Hotstar

MUMBAI: Peter Ustinov once said, ‘Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious’. Ustinov’s take on comedy has not been entertained much in India until now. That is, until All India Bakchod (AIB), and how well they are known for doing the things which are not supposed to be done. And one of things that are not to be done is the new show ‘On Air with AIB’, with tagline of 'Tragedy mein Comedy’, a satire on social and political issues with information and humor.

On Air with AIB consists of 20 episodes, 10 each in English and Hindi. So far, 4 episodes have been streamed on Hotstar and telecast on Star Plus and Star World for Hindi and English viewers respectively.

On Air with AIB has addressed issues such as the Bihar elections, Police brutality, outdated government laws, Fire safety, Corruption, and Mysterious deaths of whistleblowers. The episodes are approximately 23 minutes long. The fourth English episode of On Air with AIB addressed the social media silliness that followed the Paris terror attacks and about the public spaces which are being acquired by rich.

But then news comedy has been attempted before when Shekhar Suman did it way back in 1997 with the evocatively named Movers and Shakers. It did work that at time and with On Air with AIB, the expectations are high, people expect them to be humorous, sarcastic and gibe to a new level, because of their earlier shows and videos on the digital platform.

For the starters On Air with AIB was promoted via a hilarious series of hoardings designed to resemble political posters.

On Air with AIB’s format has been compared to American shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Late Night with Seth Meyers which focus on political, social issues. AIB's founding member Tanmay Bhat explains, “The format has been there from long time. We had shows’ in India, but they have been very light, On Air with AIB is a factual news show. There have been many comment based shows, but they’re nothing like what we are doing. There have been other comedy shows which addressed social and political issues like Satyamev Jayate which had serious approach toward the issues discussed. “

He further adds, “We want to raise the issues , issues which are not being covered but are relevant for people across demographic and geographical differences, that cater to both urban and rural audiences."

Bhat says that On Air with AIB has been a good experience, its format was new for his team, but it has been very challenging and great fun. Though AIB were the pioneers of humor and roast comedy in India, factual comedy has not been easy for them.

Tanmay adds, “It has been completely different from what we used to do. We are not used to news comedy. This is the first time we are doing a show which is a heavily researched content based show. It has been a difficult process to perform, but at the same time it has been an enriching experience. We have a 15 member research team, we have to go through PDFs, research documents and government sites.”

“Our teams have face challenges like how do we deliver the issue to the audience? How can it be simplified? How do we present it to 20 year olds and make them smarter and informed?”

On Air with AIB is produced in two languages – English and Hindi. For the English feed, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya take the charge whereas the Hindi feed is executed by Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba. It is the first time the team has been divided into two parts. Tanmay explains, “The division is because of the format and language feed of the show. I and Khamba are more comfortable speaking in Hindi. But we could swap if we felt the need."

AIB has 11.7 lakh followers on Twitter. Its Facebook page has close to 17 lakh likes. On YouTube, the group has more than 14 lakh subscribers. The response has been overwhelming states Tanmay, “People comment, applaud and are outraged. On Air with AIB is creating awareness amongst people, every time we talk about any issue on the show, people respond to us as they did not know about the issues we speak on earlier."

“OTT has provided a platform for us, not only as creators and artist and at the same time the broadcast players get original content. OTT gives content creators a better distribution channel." Tanmay explains.

The show is produced by Only Much Louder (OML), who also manages AIB and the deal between Hotstar and OML is for three years.

Speaking on the deal with AIB, Only Much Louder Limited director Ajay Nair said, “The show format needs a fair amount of resources. AIB has been on YouTube for long time but this time we wanted to do a long format. We have been working and researching for quite a time with a large team. We were talking to other platforms besides Hotstar, and it worked well with them. Apart from OTT they wanted to take to television which was good deal. As you can see, it is doing really well. ”

Whether it is YouTube or Hotstar or DittoTV or Zenga TV or Hooq or Voot or Are or nexGTv, all players have taken their first few steps to understand what consumers want, how they want to consume their content, and how much are they are willing to transact to view that content.

Nair revealed, “It is as expensive as any other television show. We manage other artists also besides AIB, we do lot of thing on digital and then we look at other platforms. We focus on all the platforms; 25 per cent to 30 per cent focus on other platforms and up-to 70 per cent on YouTube. The Hotstar app is free, it is not subscription based."

Despite the factual news format; it's always good to see serious facts wrapped in humor. The last question remains is whether All India Bakchod will be able to keep the pace of critical social conversations that John Oliver and John Stewart kept in their shows. Will AIB keep up their voices? Will they sustain the expectations put up on them? Well, only time will tell.

A quote by Nathaniel Branden penned comes to mind, “The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” AIB is creating the awareness part and the audience has to accept it.

November 23, 2015
Star India ropes in AIB for news comedy series

MUMBAI: Star India has roped in India’s premier comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) for new news comedy series called On Air with AIB.

The show will go on air in October and have 10 English and 10 Hindi episodes. It will first release on Star’s OTT platform Hotstar, followed by weekend airing on Star World and Star Plus.

All four members of AIB – Gursimran Khamba, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya synchronously said, “We have no idea why anyone in their right minds would ask us to inflict our views on unsuspecting audiences. Also, we live in such a perfect country where everything is amazing and where the maddening, infuriating and often silly state of affairs is not a comedic goldmine, so why would you have us do news comedy? But we’re doing this because we want to see what it’s like to be on a show that requires us to put on pants.”

Taking a cue from insult comedy, which AIB is infamous for, Star India CEO Uday Shankar added, “I am told that based on extensive, exhaustive research, AIB are considered mildly entertaining and we should give them a show on our network. I have complete faith that we will regret this in the months to come.”

Star India digital head Ajit Mohan said, “We are sort of excited to bring AIB’s brand of mature humor to our platform. This may be the start of a new era of quality content in India, I am told. Janta hamein maaf karein.”

On Air with AIB will be a weekly series with English and Hindi episodes dropping simultaneously on Hotstar on Thursdays and on Star World and Star Plus on Sundays.

September 15, 2015
The Content Hub: Education in comedy doesn’t exist in India

MUMBAI: With the soaps and dramas ruling the Indian television screens, comedy to some extent has taken a backseat. A session on ‘Comedy Fix’ moderated by Indiantelevision.com’s founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari and panellists Neela Telefilms director Asit Modi, Optimystix Entertainment producer Vipul D Shah and All India Bakchod (AIB) co-founder and member Tanmay Bhat sought to find if the TV industry is seeing a dearth of writing talent.

Modi said that in the field of comedy there is not only shortage of writers but producers as well. “Our industry is not ready for new writers. We have a closed mindset when it comes to new writers and tend to only work with a particular set of experienced ones. We don’t give an opportunity to explore,” he said.

Bhat went on to reason why new writers are not accepted by the industry and what today’s writing lacks. According to him the current state of television writing is very generic. “Right from actors to producers to writers, I have seen ‘just-get-it-done’ kind of attitude where originality doesn’t matter but copy pasting does. In my early days, when I used to meet television writers one common thing that I noticed amongst them was that they all had a set pattern of writing in a number of shows,” he elaborated.

All the panellists felt that in today’s time everything is scripted and agreed that the attitude towards writing is very poor which needs to be changed.

Shah highlighted right from the beginning there were no new writers created for TV but the ones making the films ended up writing for the small screen too. According to him, it is difficult to get innovative story writers because it is demanding. “Today, television writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, has a set of dos and don’ts because a channel can demand a change in the plot anytime and we as writers have to be also on our toes to fix it.”

He went on to say that western formats can never be adopted in India. “Our humour is completely different from the genre abroad. We can’t present dirty comedy here because it will never be accepted. So, to bring the humour, which can be accepted by Indian audiences, we have to create our own talent, which is again very difficult.”

According to Modi, whose Taarek Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has been running successfully for more than six years, writing a daily comedy is not only a challenge but a task. It is not only the writer’s responsibility to make the show going but the entire teams. “You not only need a good writer but a good performer also. And after getting a good performer/actor, one needs a good producer who can bridge the gap.”

Showing the silver lining in the cloud, Bhat said that thankfully now humour has started getting the respect it deserves. According to him, comedy education doesn’t exist in India. “We compare ourselves to the shows in the US. But we also have to look at the kind of education and training they have gone through. All writer/comedians one sees in their shows have all gone through a certain level of training. This doesn’t exist in India.”

The panellists agree that Indian television has always accepted family comedies and this is what will continue in the future as well. From shows like Dekh Bhai Dekh to Khichdi to Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, they all have catered to the masses.

Is there fatigue coming in comedy? “No, not at all,” said both Modi and Shah. “There will be always space for comedy. Shows like Comedy Nights with Kapil, Comedy Circus, are making everyone laugh today. And everyone loves to laugh, so comedy is and will always be audience’s first choice,” added Modi.

Wanvari further delved to find out that apart from family comedies if there is a room for sitcoms on television? “It will change, because comedy has just started its journey. I am seeing a lot of scope as more comedy channels are being launched. In comedy more than the story, character development is important. So once the characters are developed, the task will be simple,” said Modi.

According to Shah, whose Comedy Circus ran for seven and half years, a show never feels the fatigue. “Yes, at times a few episodes works and a few don’t. Comedy sometimes backfires as well. But overall as a genre, there is no fatigue coming in,” he further said.

Coming from a digital background, Bhat feels that television needs to start catering to the youth a lot more. “They are still catering to the families and not the youth. So, young people will stop watching television at some point of time unless channels keep re-inventing.”

As for Bhat, re-invention should start from the writers’ room. “I don’t see enough young people picked up from the colleges and groomed. It is essential to grab someone at 16 and groom them to get good comedy in place. Any college kid would want to write for television but there are no platforms.”

December 4, 2014
YouTube is the platform to be on, says AIB’s Tanmay Bhat

MUMBAI: The 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects provided a pivotal platform for the discussion of Indian multi channel networks (MCNs) and how YouTube has helped artists in building a strong viewership, new content and audiences. When it comes to MCNs, India has a large digital video market and the younger audiences today are more likely to watch digital videos than television.

Moderated by Music Matters president and Branded co founder and CEO Jasper Donat, the panelists included All India Bakchod (AIB) co founder Tanmay Bhat, Qyuki Digital Media co founder and managing director Samir Bangara, Ping Network co-founder and director Rajeshree Naik, Digital Quotient (HT Media) business head entertainment Parmeet Lamba and YouTube India head of content operations Satya Raghavan. The session discussed the advent of MCNs and the rising players who are creating content online.

As the co-founder of one of India’s leading YouTube channels, Bhat spoke about how it all began for him. He said, “Well, we began as a comedy podcast and then sometime last year, we started doing sketch comedy on YouTube. Our YouTube channel became the fastest growing channels in India. We now also make content for brands”.

Raghavan expressed that he was delighted with the fresh content emerging on YouTube. He commented, “Earlier, I used to only watch YouTube for movie trailers but all of a sudden I am finding myself watching unique content on channels like AIB. It’s truly been a fascinating year for YouTube”.

Speaking of the business model of YouTube, Raghavan further elaborated, “YouTube is platform where you see online videos. Advertising is our primary source of revenue and we share more than half of that with the creators”.

Bangara added on the role of MCN in today’s market, “We are like the new-age label. We do what record labels did for musicians in the traditional market. Today, you do not have to be in a bar to discover new music talent. YouTube does that for you”.

Talking about the rise of MCNs, Donat pointed out, “This is an area where there is some serious money. Companies are being bought for hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the biggest MCN deals had Disney acquiring Maker Studios for $500 million plus $400 million earn out”.

Bangara responded, “We are in the broadcast network creation space and monetization on that is two-fold. Ad monetisation on YouTube is not sufficient. As a MCN, we bring a lot of branded content to the table. We take talent, package them and promote them to brands. Our business model is a mix of brand monetization as well as CPM ad monetisation”.

Naik agreed with Bangara and further added, “This business is eventually going to be based on relationships. The technology platform is YouTube but the MCN is purely a service business. It’s all about understanding the ecosystem and helping the artists benefit”.

Parmeet Lamba commented, “It is also important that we help individual artistes in monetizing and distributing their content. In the regional space, a lot of Punjabi music has been coming up. We build talent and they become popular. There are a lot of deals and collaborations happening in the market. A lot of brands are approaching us to feature their products for the artists’ next videos. The brands offer to sponsor these artists. And with the gained popularity, these performing artists get more live gigs”.

Elaborating on how YouTube helped him in his popularity meter, Bhat said, “When we attended the YouTube fanfest this year, it was a very overwhelming experience. People were watching us on their phones. It was a different level of engagement altogether. YouTube is the platform to be on!”

Adding on to that, Raghavan added, “There are a lot of cover singers who are becoming popular. We also get to see original content in the music space. Being on YouTube definitely gets you more gigs and it is an amazing platform for the common man to express himself. However, one needs to constantly put up content. Fans love to see the passion you have for your craft and the engagement level needs to be high. The creator needs to be disciplined and also focus on interacting with his or her fans. 2015 is going to be the year of music!”

While speaking on the potential of YouTubers breaking into the mainstream music scene, Naik opined, “If you were a musician about 20 years ago, you would have sung for about 5 years and then made a video. Today if you want to be a musician, you need to begin with the video. Today, you have that platform that can help you get noticed. That pretty much sums up why digital videos are so important for musicians”.

November 7, 2014
All India Bakchod re-lives 90’s era of Indian advertising

MUMBAI: Don’t judge them by their name. All India Bakchod (AIB) is what they call themselves. They are probably India’s most vocal bunch of youngsters on YouTube. They definitely make you LOL (laugh out loud) with every take of theirs be it on films, politics to even advertising.

Team AIB which includes names like Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Gursimran Khamba and Ashish Sakya who are popular on the digital world. The podcasters today have over 38.5 K Twitter followers, 504,286 likes on Facebook and over 505,473 YouTube subscribers.

AIB for their latest video has collaborated with Voctronica to a pay tribute to the evergreen era of Indian advertising. It can be noted that AIB has partnered with Snapdeal and has subtle mentions of the brand for this video. Snapdeal also is selling AIB merchandise. The video has been watched over 136,260 times on the video-sharing site at the time of filling this story.

AIB with this video takes you back to the time when advertising was all about catchy jingles.

Click here to watch the video

July 12, 2014