Carry on Laughing

NOT EVERY 24-year-old YouTuber becomes an overnight sensation. But Faridabad-based Ajey Nagar’s journey has been somewhat extraordinary. A curious child who was always up for a challenge, he was 10 years old when he first discovered YouTube. Instantly drawn to its potential and promise, he considered pursuing it as a full-fledged career when he was just 13. “It was a very instinctive decision, and something I instantly moved towards. My first stint happened while recording myself doing all these crazy football tactics, which I replayed and reshot a million times,” says Nagar who goes by the alias CarryMinati.

In a video from 2018, he explains what it was like to drop out of Delhi Public School, Faridabad, as a Class XII student, to pursue a full-time YouTube career. Saddled with an economics retest the next day, he couldn’t for the life of him comprehend a word of the subject. That was the moment he informed his parents about his decision to quit school. Fortunately, they were supportive, and allowed him to pursue his passion for content creation with the sole condition that he must complete his education via distance learning. While Nagar admits having missed out on a regular college life and hanging out with friends on campus, the immense love, respect and loyalty that he has earned from his fan community has more than made up for it. “They (my fans) have taught me a lot. I feel like I am growing with them,” he says.

In hindsight, it scares him to think how he dropped out to pursue what was back then, the rather unchartered territory of the digital world. However, he feels that content creation was a path predestined for him. “I can’t think of a time when I didn’t want to do this, because it is my dream calling. In my earlier days I told myself that even if I don’t succeed, I would still be doing this or something related to gaming,” he says.

Given his astronomical success, dropping out of school and going online was a wise decision, as today Nagar is the biggest YouTube star in Asia. In a 2016 video, Nagar says that when he first started out, his dream was to get 5,000 subscribers on his channel by the end of the year. In ‘The End of Something Beautiful’, which he uploaded the following year, he jokes that he sometimes manages to get 5,000 followers in a single day. In August this year, Nagar’s channel totalled over 40 million subscribers and 3.4 billion views, making him the most subscribed individual personality of Indian origin on YouTube within India and across Asia. He is a good million subscribers ahead of the second in the list. Today, his social media presence stands at an impressive 18.5 million followers on Instagram, and 3 million Twitter fans. CarryisLive now has 12 million subscribers, and his BTS channel, CarryMinati Productions Official, is close to crossing 1 million subscribers.

‘Thara Bhaiiiii’, one of his most popular videos uploaded a year ago, has 6.2 million views. It starts with an old uncle crying to him about Katrina Kaif getting married. Nagar begins talking to him in an angry, even frustrated tone, often using several expletives. The content goes from being bizarre to absurd. ‘Indian Food Magic’, another of his videos uploaded last year, which has more than 4 crore views, focuses on different varieties of popular Indian eateries, such as paan, momos and Maggi, where he mocks and celebrates all these food items with equal fervor.

While watching, one wonders what it is that makes him the most subscribed individual personality of Indian origin on YouTube within India and across Asia. Scrolling down, one reads some adoring comments from his fans: “Unknowingly I became Carry’s fan, just because of his way of presentation”…”I do watch them [his videos] again and again, especially when I am stressed out, they really make me laugh and for a moment I forget all my stress”…”Finally an Indian YouTuber who knows how to superbly articulate his words, speak up and take a stand”… “I literally laughed throughout..”…“This guy is love…”

The journey, so far, has been both steep and humbling. “From being the underdog who no one believed in to leading the wolf pack, has been quite exhilarating and challenging,” he says. Some of his most defining moments so far have been interviewing Tom Cruise, and being featured in Time as one of the 10 Next Generation Leaders in 2019. “It felt like a validation to my success in some way, and that international superstars were finally taking note of non-film/non-music talent in India,” he says.

So, why the pseudonym ‘CarryMinati’? Nagar says that there is no real reason behind his alias. “It just sounded cool at that time. I never really thought it through,” he says with a laugh. And what is his mantra for creating authentic and relatable content that captures the pulse of the masses, and makes him stand out from the crowd? Nagar makes a conscious effort to create innovative and interactive content on subjects—from ‘cancel culture’ to marriage to relationships—that are relevant for his audiences, while experimenting off and on to satisfy his inner child. His success largely stems from the fact that he picks trending topics, creating 8-to-10-minute-long spoofs on them. For instance, in ‘Everything Wrong with Indian Schools’, he pokes fun at daily events in schools, such as the morning assembly, prize distributions and principals’ speeches. Further, in his Bigg Boss parody video, which has 37 million views, he makes a commentary on Salman Khan’s possible thoughts while hosting the show.

Further, Nagar’s live streaming gaming channel, CarryIsLive, gives him a chance to connect with and understand his fans better. Through it, he tries to walk in their shoes, “The audience expects consistency, novelty and frequency. Without these, it’s incredibly easy to slip off the radar,” he says. Perhaps his biggest win is that he is not biased towards anyone. “Experimental content is the king of new-age media today, and the algorithm loves you the most when content speaks to the audience and breaks stereotypes,” he says with a smile.

Though the process is mostly impromptu, there’s a method to the madness. While he creates his content from scratch almost single-handedly, he does have a team that helps him with graphic work, making thumbnails, static posts etc. “I focus on the process, and love it more than the outcome. I love to edit, write and perform. Gaming also comes naturally to me. Not only do I like playing games, I feel one can also learn so much about art through it,” he says.

Depending on the format, it takes him anywhere between three to four weeks—from evaluating the relevance of a topic to executing the entire video—if there are no skits involved. “If it is a consecutive action-reaction video, it takes two weeks. If it’s a rant or current topic, it can take more than a month, because I have to create a base which is further modified and shot,” he explains. Nagar then takes feedback from his management team, friends and family to gauge and fine-tune the video.

Nagar admits that he likes to view life through rose-tinted glasses. From being simply a YouTuber, he has gradually expanded into the diverse roles of a streamer, actor, rapper and entrepreneur. Having released close to eight hip-hop singles, he has made a special appearance in a film, and has even judged a gaming show. “I’m young, and I’ve got fire in my belly to multi-task and experiment. I can work 14 hours a day as long as I feel motivated, so it’s easy for me to juggle between these disciplines,” he says. However, he adds that his first love remains content creation, and everything else is a gamble.

BUT THE JOURNEY has not been without challenges. “What I do for a living appears to be entertaining and easy in nature, but there are a lot of difficulties I have faced,” he says. Over time, Nagar has figured that unlike a company whose standardised products may satisfy everyone all the time, some days his videos will be good, and some days not so. He has also realised that with success, comes the baggage of jealousy, criticism and hate.

One of the controversial aspects of his channel is roasting, for which he has even been recognised as ‘The Roast King’ of India. In May 2020, his video ‘YouTube vs. TikTok—The End’ was removed, citing reasons of cyberbullying and harassment. But Nagar is unfazed. According to him, there is a small difference between roasting and commentary videos. “A roast is meant to be relatable, humorous and hard hitting, whereas a commentary is meant to be opinionated,” he says. While roasting may be a new concept for many, he predicts that it will be “full blown” in the coming decade. “You can’t always expect people to say nice things about you. You need to be a sport when the bad things come your way, because everyone will have an opinion that you may not like,” he adds.

Currently, Nagar is working on various entertainment ventures with his business partner Deepak Char. Recently, he also invested in an e-sports gaming corporation and academy called Big Bang E-Sports. “I want to keep innovating and experimenting with multiple roles that I resonate with, so that by the time I’m 40, I’m part of a diverse business empire,” he says.

Ajey NagarCarryMinatidigital mediaFollowerssocial mediaYouTube star