WITH LAUGHTER ON HIS SIDE

YouTuber Bhuvan Bam has overcome great personal odds to entertain his fans again

- Suhani Singh

Six months, five days—that’s how long Bhuvan Bam, one of India’s most successful YouTubers, was away from the platform that has given him his fame. The reason behind his absence is one that countless Indians will find familiar. As the second Covid wave crescendoed in the capital earlier this year, Bam lost both his parents. In a June 12 Instagram post, the 27-year-old wrote, “Ek mahine mein sab bikhar chuka hai. Ghar, sapne, sab kuchh… Ab shuru se jeena seekhna padega [Everything has been shattered in a month—homes, dreams, everything. Will have to learn how to live from scratch].”

While his grief, of course, will take its own course, Bam has now discovered a resilience that is giving him the confidence to create and make people laugh again. The first episode of Dhindora—Bam’s debut web series—released on his YouTube channel, BB Ki Vines, on October 14. India’s ninth biggest independent YouTuber, Bam could have quite easily opted for the popular OTT route, but he wanted the show to be available on the platform which helped him amass over 20 million subscribers. “We just can’t build an audience on YouTube and then expect people to have to pay and watch,” he says. “I also want to set a standard in the YouTube fraternity ki production YouTube pe bhi ho sakti hai [one can mount a big show on YouTube]. We can pull this off, we are not dependent on anybody.”