There may be a million stars in the sky but this one, Bhuvan Bam, is India’s millennial star with over 17 million subscribers on Earth. Bhuvan Bam, the 26 year old comedian, singer, songwriter, and TEDx speaker from Delhi, India is famously known for his YouTube comedy channel BB Ki Vines. In 2018, he became the first Indian YouTube content creator to hit 10 million subscribers. Today he has crossed 17.8 million subscribers on YouTube.
The early years
This millennial was born on January 22, 1994, in Baroda, Gujarat, India to Avnindra and Padma Bam. As the family moved to Delhi he went to study at Greenfield School and holds a bachelor’s degree in History, graduating from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College.
Bhuvan Bam began to compose his songs and even strum and sing them during his night job as a singer at a Mughlai restaurant in Delhi. But the turning point came when Bhuvan uploaded a video on Facebook. It was a video in which he satirized a news reporter who was asking a woman insensitive questions regarding the loss of her son in the Kashmir floods. That video went viral and got him 15,000 views. The video inspired him to add the next video ‘I’m feeling horny’ and so it all began…
Continuing with passion
The digital star is active in all three social giants Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. He has crossed 4.6 million Facebook fans, 4.1 million followers on Instagram, and 1.89 million on Twitter. He also has a presence on Snap chat and Musical.ly.
But it was YouTube where he found his place in the sun. Apparently, Bhuvan Bam’s first video on YouTube ‘The Chakhna Issue” received only 15 views and later deleted, but that never deterred him from continuing with his stories. Today the YouTube videos enjoy over 1.3 billion views. He has even crossed 17.8 million subscribers on YouTube, as his popularity continues to grow. Bhuvan the YouTube vlogger’s estimated annual income is around INR 32 crores earning a major chunk through advertisements on YouTube. He is ranked amongst the top 10 highest paid YouTubers.
YouTube BB Ki Vines
Bhuvan Bam launched his YouTube Channel ‘BB Ki Vines’ (Bhuvan Bam Ki Vines) on 21st June 2015. The 2 to 8 minutes long videos depicted the life of an urban teenager and his whimsical conversations with his friends and family. Told most humorously, these videos have him dressing up as different characters (including females) entertainingly portraying their conversations. He is known for playing characters like Banchoddas, Sameer Fuddi, Titu Mama, and Mr. Hola. He mostly uses a front-facing selfie camera from his phone to film these videos handling its pre-recording, recording, and post-recording processes. They contain one frame only with one character that is himself playing different roles. Sometimes, in the transition from one character to another, the voice is overlapped by him to give a more realistic feel of a conversation. Most of his videos are based on comedy, but they do also incorporate a social message.
It was on Valentine’s week of 2016, that his first video ‘Hutiyapa’ went viral in India.
The Many Faces of Bhuvan Bam
Though there are 18 characters now, the most famous and recurring characters to appear in Bhuvan Bams videos Include-
1. Banchod Das Chatriwala (Bancho): Problem creator and yet BB’s best friend.
2. Sameer Fuddi: The third musketeer who is known to pronounce “S” as “F” and “Ch” as “H”. This leads to him saying the word “sex” as “fax [or fex]”, and “shakh [ENG: Doubt] as “F**k”.
3. Babluji (Papa): The innocent father who truly believes in his son.
4. Mummy: The homemaker who attempts to excel at speaking English.
5. Titu Mama: Mom’s brother also the goon who takes everyone’s case while also who relieves the kids from Hola.
6. Angry Masterji: Bhuvan and Bancho’s class teacher harassed by the students.
7. Hola: The ultimate villain.
Awards and Nominations
- Won the World Bloggers Awards 2019 at Cannes in ‘Global Entertainer Of The Year’.
- Filmfare Awards 2019 in People’s Choice Category for Plus Minus, alongside actress Divya Dutta.
- Cosmopolitan Awards 2019 for ‘Most Viral Content Creator’ and “Entertainer of the Year’.
- MensXP Award 2019, for ‘Icon of Newhood’ and ‘Social Media Icon of Newhood’.
- Official Instagram Awards in Entertainer of the Year, 2018.
- Felicitated by the Hindustan Times at the first edition of their Game Changer Awards, 2017.
- In 2016, won WebTVAsia Awards ‘Most Popular Channel on YouTube’ for BB Ki Vines.
- Nominated for the award of being the most influential social media personality two years in a row at IWMBuzz Awards.
Bhuvan Bam, beyond the comedian
Bhuvan’s varied interests go beyond comedy. He,
- Released music videos Teri Meri Kahani (2016), Sang Hoon Tere (2018), Safar (2018), Rahguzaar (2018), and Ajnabee (2019). The song Ajnebee got 11 million views on YouTube. Also his song “Bas Mein” has a lyric which refers to the character ‘Professor Snape’ from the Harry Potter series.
- Collaborated with YouTube channel TVF (The Viral Fever) for the video ‘TVF Bhootiyapa Bachelors v/s Ghost’.
- Works in collaboration with AIB (All India Backchod), another well-known You Tube channel.
- Launched a digital series in December 2018 on YouTube called Titu Talks. It featured Indian Actor Shah Rukh Khan as the first guest.
Millennials Shine
The first time Bhuvan was recognized in public and had a selfie moment with a fan was in Connaught Place in New Delhi. The fan called out ‘Dr. Sehgal (one of BB’s characters) and so it began. Bhuvan Bam’s success has proved to millions that careers today go beyond doctors, teachers, and engineers. He is India’s first-generation YouTube Star. The digital world has opened up thousands of career opportunities. Let this story of his meteoric rise egg you to become the next YouTube star!