Akash Banerjee
Banerjee at the FoE Con 2023
NationalityIndian
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • Radio jockey
  • YouTuber
  • Political satirist
Years active2002–present
Known forCaricature Bhakt Banarjee
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
  • Politics
  • Satire
  • Interviews
Subscribers3.41 million[1]
Total views512.25 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 07 Nov 2023

Akash Banarjee (Hindi: आकाश बनर्जी) 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 Banarjee.”[2] As of 2023 he has over 3 million regular viewers,[3][4] with The Washington Post calling Deshbhakt "one of the biggest YouTube channels in India."[5]

Early life and education

Born in India, Banarjee completed his schooling from La Martiniere College in Lucknow. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Hindu College and an Master of Arts in History from St. Stephens College.[6]

Career

Initially working in Radio Mirchi and Times Now,[6] Banarjee 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; Banarjee was inspired to start his YouTube channel as a satirical show mixing humour with political commentary.[7][8] One of Banarjee’s popular caricatures is Bhakt Banarjee who is portrayed as a fervour supporter of the BJP government and often berates the opposition and people critical of the government.[9] Bhakt Banarjee is often seen interviewing journalists like Ravish Kumar, politicians and other YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee.[10][11]

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.[12] In a review, the Sunday Guardian described it as “lacking substance” and “self-aggrandizement”[13] While Rekhta described it as a “realistic and detailed account on how broadcast media works in the country”[14]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About Deshbhakt". YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Munjal, Dhruv. "This DeshBhakt Questions Everything". Rediff. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Deshbhakt - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  4. ↑ "India’s Government Wants Total Control of the Internet" by Varsha Bansal, Wired Magazine, February 13, 2023.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. 1 2 "Akash Banerjee - Linkedin".
  7. ↑ "This poll season, Akash Banerjee hopes to take political satire mainstream" by Dhruv Munjal, Business Standard, Apr 05 2019.
  8. ↑ "Akash Banerjee gives a masterclass to UPES students on the power of satire". UPES. August 31, 2021.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Staff, Scroll (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.
  11. ↑ Nair, Roshan H. "Political comedy is no joke". Deccan Herald. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Akash Banerjee's Tales from Shining and Sinking India". The Times of India. February 20, 2013. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ rekhtabooks.com. "Tales From Shining And Sinking India – Rekhta Books | Best of Hindi Urdu Literature Books". rekhtabooks.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.