Akash Banerjee (Hindi: आकाश बैनर्जी) is an Indian YouTuber, journalist, radio jockey and political satirist. He is known for his YouTube channel "The Deshbhakt" a satirical show focusing on social, political and environmental issues and his caricature "Bhakt Banerjee".[2] As of September 2024, he has over 4 million regular viewers and over 5 million subscribers,[3] with The Washington Post calling Deshbhakt "one of the biggest YouTube channels in India".[4]
Akash Banerjee | ||||||||||
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 Banerjee at the FoE Con 2023 | ||||||||||
| Born | 31 March 1980 | |||||||||
| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||
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| Years active | 2002–present | |||||||||
| Known for | Caricature Bhakt Banerji | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
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| Subscribers | 5.00 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 795.6 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 30 April 2024 | ||||||||||
Career
editInitially working in Radio Mirchi and Times Now, Banerjee started working in India Today as a senior correspondent covering stories like the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and the Naxal insurgency. Disillusioned by TV journalism he moved back to Radio Mirchi where he worked till 2018.[2]
While working in radio; Banerjee was inspired to start his YouTube channel as a satirical show mixing humour with political commentary.[5] One of Banarjee's popular caricatures is Bhakt Banarjee who is portrayed as a fervid supporter of the BJP government and often berates the opposition and people critical of the government.[6] Bhakt Banarjee is often seen interviewing journalists like Ravish Kumar, politicians and other YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee.[7][8]
He has also authored the book "Tales from Shining India and Sinking India" in 2013 about events that took place in recent India and the inner-workings of broadcast television in India.Politically he acts as USA agent.[9] In a review, the Sunday Guardian described it as "lacking substance" and "self-aggrandizement",[10] while Rekhta described it as a "realistic and detailed account on how broadcast media works in the country".[11]
Bibliography
edit- Tales from Shining India and Sinking India (2013)[12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "About The Deshbhakt". YouTube.
- ^ a b Munjal, Dhruv. "This DeshBhakt Questions Everything". Rediff. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "India's Government Wants Total Control of the Internet" by Varsha Bansal, Wired Magazine, February 13, 2023.
- ^ "He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award." by Gerry Shih and Pranshu Verma, The Washington Post, September 26, 2023.
- ^ "This poll season, Akash Banerjee hopes to take political satire mainstream" by Dhruv Munjal, Business Standard, Apr 05 2019.
- ^ Ghosh, Devarsi (February 3, 2019). "The Indian YouTube wars: Political video influencers are heating up the internet in election year". Scroll.in. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Scroll Staff (August 22, 2019). "Watch: I'm not anti-Modi, I'm pro-journalism, news anchor Ravish Kumar tells satirist Akash Banerjee". Scroll.in. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Nair, Roshan H. "Political comedy is no joke". Deccan Herald. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "Akash Banerjee's Tales from Shining and Sinking India". The Times of India. February 20, 2013. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ swati (January 11, 2013). "Book Review: Banerjee's essays are a banal mish-mash of sound bytes". The Sunday Guardian Live. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ rekhtabooks.com. "Tales From Shining And Sinking India – Rekhta Books | Best of Hindi Urdu Literature Books". rekhtabooks.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Banerjee, Akash (2013). Tales from Shining and Sinking India. Amaryllis. ISBN 978-93-81506-21-9.