How 24-Year-Old Bhuvan Bam Runs India’s Most Successful YouTube Channel

Bhuvan Bam's 'BB Ki Vines' is India's most subscribed YouTube channel with more than 6.6 million subscribers. Funnily enough, Bam, all of 24 years old, first came to everyone's notice when a short video of his went viral in Pakistan. It wasn't long before the craze caught on in India too, and the rest is history. Two years later, we sit down with the one-man-army to talk about his creating process and why he chooses to work alone:

How His YouTube Journey Began

I didn't even know that such a thing as YouTube existed! I used to upload my videos on Facebook. But my friend said, "You can earn money if you upload it on Youtube." So I did that and when people started coming in, I thought, "This is also an audience?" In my head Bollywood was everything. If you wanted to do something in life, you had to get in line and wait for the audition calls.

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On Finding His USP

I write, script, edit and market myself. I take care of the entire creative process. I don't shoot with a DSLR. I use the front camera of my phone. I'm so lazy that I don't even use a tripod. For four hours I hold my phone with my hand. Maybe that's what people like – the immature camera shakes, etc. There's a cuteness to it. That's my USP now – that only one of my hands is visible.

Doing It Lo-fi

I shoot it in my terrace room. 100 videos in one room. With the same background and the same wall, just switching characters. I tried producing a video with good equipment and people didn't like it. The first comment said, "He's sold out." But I had paid to get the video made! People wanted the same old, so I came back to it.

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Why He Chooses To Work Alone

I enjoy it. When I'm surrounded by people, I fear their judgement. When I'm alone, I am free to experiment. It all comes down to editing – you can remove what's not working. But if you don't experiment at all then you'll never know. It does feel lonely sometimes. But people tell me that the best part is that I'm playing all the characters.

Where He Finds Inspiration

I take time to think of the concept. And then I take time to script. I walk around at home, I go out and travel. I meet new people. Half the characters I got from meeting people and picking out characteristics. It's all about observation.

Watch the full video here: