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] with The Washington Post calling Deshbhakt "one of the biggest YouTube channels in India."[4]

He is a critic of right wing politics and BJP and has worked with extreme left wing news site NewLaundary which is almost always a critic of BJP[2][3][4][5]

Career

Initially working in Radio Mirchi and Times Now, 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.[6] 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.[7] Bhakt Banarjee is often seen interviewing journalists like Ravish Kumar, politicians and other YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee.[8][9]

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.[10] In a review, the Sunday Guardian described it as “lacking substance” and “self-aggrandizement”[11] While Rekhta described it as a “realistic and detailed account on how broadcast media works in the country”[5]

Bibliography

  • Tales from Shining India and Sinking India (2013)[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About Deshbhakt". YouTube.
  2. 1 2 3 Munjal, Dhruv. "This DeshBhakt Questions Everything". Rediff. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "India’s Government Wants Total Control of the Internet" by Varsha Bansal, Wired Magazine, February 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "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.
  5. 1 2 rekhtabooks.com. "Tales From Shining And Sinking India – Rekhta Books | Best of Hindi Urdu Literature Books". rekhtabooks.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ "This poll season, Akash Banerjee hopes to take political satire mainstream" by Dhruv Munjal, Business Standard, Apr 05 2019.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Nair, Roshan H. "Political comedy is no joke". Deccan Herald. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Akash Banerjee's Tales from Shining and Sinking India". The Times of India. February 20, 2013. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Banerjee, Akash (2013). Tales from Shining and Sinking India. Amaryllis. ISBN 978-93-81506-21-9.
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