Akash Banerjee

Last updated

Akash Banerjee
Akash Banerjee.png
Born (1990-03-31) 31 March 1990 (age 35)
NationalityIndian
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Independent Journalist
  • Radio jockey
  • YouTuber
Years active2002–present
Known for Caricature Bhakt Banerji
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
  • Politics
  • Satire
  • Interviews
Subscribers6.19 million
Views947 million
Last updated: 27 October 2025

Akash Banerjee (born 31 March 1980) 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". As of September 2024, he has over 5 million regular viewers and over 6 million subscribers, [1] with The Washington Post calling Deshbhakt "one of the biggest YouTube channels in India". [2]

Contents

Career

Initially 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. [3]

While working in radio; Banerjee was inspired to start his YouTube channel as a satirical show mixing humour with political commentary. [4] 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. [5] Bhakt Banarjee is often seen interviewing journalists like Ravish Kumar, politicians and other YouTubers like Dhruv Rathee. [6] [7]

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. [8] In a review, the Sunday Guardian described it as "lacking substance" and "self-aggrandizement", [9] while Rekhta described it as a "realistic and detailed account on how broadcast media works in the country". [10]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bansal, Varsha. "India's Government Wants Total Control of the Internet". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  2. ↑ Verma, Pranshu (September 26, 2023). "He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award". Washington Post .
  3. ↑ Munjal, Dhruv. "This DeshBhakt Questions Everything". Rediff. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  4. ↑ "This poll season, Akash Banerjee hopes to take political satire mainstream" by Dhruv Munjal, Business Standard, Apr 05 2019.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Nair, Roshan H. "Political comedy is no joke". Deccan Herald. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Akash Banerjee's Tales from Shining and Sinking India". The Times of India. February 20, 2013. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ rekhtabooks.com. "Tales From Shining And Sinking India – Rekhta Books | Best of Hindi Urdu Literature Books". rekhtabooks.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  11. ↑ Banerjee, Akash (2013). Tales from Shining and Sinking India. Amaryllis. ISBN   978-93-81506-21-9.
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