Arunabh Kumar
Arunabh Kumar also called as the TheQtiyapaGuy is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur [1] and is the person who conceptualized and launched The Viral Fever, a popular online entertainment network that satirizes Indian politics, movies, lifestyle, social system and concepts etc. By June 2013, the contents created by The Viral Fever Media Labs hit over 10 million views. In February 2015, it became the first YouTube online network to attract one million subscribers on the basis of original content within the shortest time. Arunabh Kumar is the incumbent CEO (Chief Experiment Officer) of The Viral Fever Media Labs. The Viral Fever (TVF) was launched in 2010 and by June, 2013, TVF videos reached 10 million viewership with over 1 million+ subscribers [2][3] on YouTube channel. According to Arunabh Kumar, the main objective behind the launch of TVF was to provide to the younger generation with something that they can connect to.[4][5]
Early life and career[edit | edit source]
Arunabh Kumar was brought up in Muzaffarpur in Bihar and was a keen participant in extra-curricular activities at school. Since his young days, Arunabh was an advocate of free speech and never shied away from voicing his ideas.[1][6] After completing his masters in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Kumar worked as a research consultant in the US Air Force. After quitting this job, he worked for Shah Rukh Khan's production house Red Chillies Entertainment in an assistant’s position under Farah Khan. At Red Chillies Entertainments he got the opportunity to work as the assistant director of the Indian movie Om Shanti Om.
MTV rejected his creation Engineer's Diary which led to the launching of The Viral Fever.[7][8]
Awards and Achievements[edit | edit source]
- AFAQs selected him as a “Newsmaker of the Year” in 2014.
- He is included in the Fortune Top 40 under 40 list for 2015
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saxena, Aditi (6 February 2015). "This IIT Kharagpur alumnus is the brain behind The Viral Fever Media". The Economic Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "A curious case of ‘Q-Tiyapa’". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "Online VOD platform The Viral Fever gains one million subscribers". Indian Television. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "Bollywood's new spoof masters: Stars send themselves up in viral videos... but is it for laughs or promo?". The Daily Mail UK. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "Mumbai Film Festival Diary 2014: On day 5, comedians talk about social media's cool new generation of stars in Alia and Parineeti". IBN Live. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ↑ "Arunabh Kumar – The man behind Qtiyapa". Your story. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "How MTV’s rejection created Q-tiyapa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "EC – How an IITian rejected by MTV created his own youth channel – The Viral Fever Story". enoogle. Retrieved 21 March 2015.