Arunabh Kumar has become a popular name in the world of viral and satirical comedy that cleverly takes a punch at common scenarios. Having started a new wave of online humour targeted at Indians, readers would be interested in uncovering some of the deepest facts about him.
1 Like most Indians, Arunabh was brought up in a strict atmosphere led by parents who dreamed of academic excellence. He appeared for the JEE Exams right after his schooling.
2 Not clearing the examinations in his first try, Arunabh shifted to Kota for preparations and passed on his second try. He describes his Alma Mater IIT Kharagpur as a dull place with no excitement.
He joined IIT Kharagpur in 2001 in Electrical Engineering branch. Arunabh says:
Every sem I used to pick a career choice, in first semester I wanted to be an economist, in second sem I wanted to do an MBA, in third I thought I will be a coder and in fourth sem I thought I will join UPSC. Evey sem I used to change careers
3 He quickly followed up by enrolling in a US Air Force project centered in Mumbai. It was a sickening experience causing him to quit.
4 After building prominent connections with creative think tanks in IIT Mumbai, his first stint at exploring his dreams came with the release of short film projects.
5 He hails from Muzaffarpur and describes his family as ‘television haters’ while crediting Doordarshan shows like Mulla Nasruddin, Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne for inspiring him.
6 All the film projects paid off as Arunabh was selected to work alongside Farah Khan for the movie ‘Om Shanti Om’ as an assistant director. He even had a guest cameo.
As Arunabh says:
I consider Red Chillies Entertainment to be my film school and all these guys…Sharukh Khan, Farah Khan and all the technicians were my teachers…most of my media and film-making education happened with these guys and (I am) fortunate to work with these people
7 The next big project that awaited him was Amir Khan’s cult comedy ‘Delhi Belly’ which mounted his outreach in the Indian film industry.
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8 ‘Engineer’s Diary’ was his major conception driven by a dream to make TV shows that the youth would enjoy. It was first pitched at MTV but never came to fruition after being rejected by channels everywhere.
9 He later set out to create his own show by joining the creativity of employee and current partner Amit Golani. Their first uploaded video received the second highest views in the entertainment section.
Arunabh says:
Luckily Canon camera, YouTube and my rejection came at the right time, all three of them coincided. This college Qtiyapa(The TVF) is a show I had conceived for MTV. That show also got rejected after a lot of resources went into it. That was one of the best rejections in my life, else we wouldn’t have Qtiyapa with us…
10 He recommends movies such as Khosla ka Ghosla, Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club and It’s a Wonderful Life for inspiring his hunger for smart storytelling.
11 He sparked a friendly relationship with college senior Sundar Pichai who belonged to the same hostel as him. Sundar Pichai is being pitched to appear in TVF’s latest creation- TVF pitchers which is being seen as analogous to ‘Silicon Valley’.
12 His closest brush with bankruptcy was during the production of ‘JHA.2’ which lampooned Ra.One.
13 His biggest vision for the company is to scale it to the heights of a world famous entertainment brand, stating it to become India’s answer to Disney.
14 He was awarded for his short film “The wish divers”, in a contest organized by Network18 and PnC Communications.
15 He has been included in several publication lists such as ‘The Economic Times 40 under Forty list for 2016′,’ Fortune Top 40 under 40 list for 2015 and 2016′, ‘GQ’s List of Most Influential Young Indians for 2015 and 2016’, ‘”Entrepreneur” List of 10 Geniuses Redefining Creativity’ and several others.
The Viral Fever has proven to be an infectious hit all over the country and has spread from a one-man operation to a team of more than 100 people all over India. For the past few years, they’ve established their position of viral content creators with segments like ‘TVF Pitchers’, ‘Barely Speaking with Arnub’, ‘Chai Sutta’ and ‘Permanent Roommates’.
The company spans 2 offices in Mumbai and Delhi and is ranked as the second biggest new media network in India in terms of youth entertainment. Even today, the story of Arunabh Kumar rings in the ears of budding entrepreneurs as a definitive Bollywood-esque ‘rags to riches’ story.
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