Carry Minati, India’s biggest creator and among richest YouTubers, on his gaali-filled videos: ‘My video with 70 mn views was removed’

He recalled the immediate realisation that came with this decision: “I was in my room and I realised, I have no backup, I have to really do this, and so I gave it my all.” He also discussed the controversy surrounding his viral roast video YouTube vs TikTok: The End, which was removed by YouTube for violations of its terms of service, including cyberbullying and harassment. Despite the removal, the video earned him 70 million views and 6 million subscribers.

“It was too good to be true, that’s what I told my brother and cousin, who is also my manager, when all that was happening. And as it turned out, it was too good to be true, because five days later the video was deleted. And my brother was very affected and he was like we should do something. And so we created a song called Yalgaar. And that night I can’t forget, he was on fire, I was on fire, we wrote it, we made it, and it is the most viewed content on my channel till date.”

While his channel continues to grow, 45 million subscribers this year, he has faced criticism for using abusive language in his videos, which many see as a key part of his appeal. He explained: “See, we come from Delhi. And you know, in Delhi, it’s very common. It’s in my upbringing, I won’t say my parents, of course, but among friends and all, it’s very common that way. So I’ve never thought of gaalis as something unusual or special; it’s just how we converse. If I show you my chat with my friends, which I won’t, you’ll see that’s just how it is. I’d say, more than using it to make someone feel bad, it’s more like an expression. Especially for people in Delhi, I’d say. I don’t know about Bombay, I haven’t lived here much.”

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On the challenges of success, Carry Minati spoke candidly about the loneliness that comes with being at the top: “I think I’m at a decent level, but you know, all my friends around me, I won’t say they’re not doing well, they are, but maybe not as well as me. And because of that, sometimes you kind of feel lonely. At the position I’m in, I’m the only one there. There’s nobody else to tell you, ‘Okay, this is how you should go,’ or ‘Do this, this will work.’ You don’t know, because you’re discovering things on your own. You’ll fail, but you have to keep going. That’s one part of it.”

He added: “The other part is that I feel you have to constantly keep moving. For example, I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a proper trip with my friends, because right now, they’re all very hardworking individuals. They’re working, they’re still in that phase where they’re trying to make it. And I’m in a phase where I’m trying to grow. So for us to decide, ‘Okay, let’s go there’ or ‘Let’s plan this trip,’ it’s very hard, if you know what I mean. That’s where you sometimes feel lonely, you think, why can’t we go, why can’t we do this? But they can’t, and I also don’t want to impose that on them. So in that sense, yes, it gets a little lonely. But it’s not sad at all. It’s actually quite enjoyable. You meet great people, they show you love, whenever you go to a restaurant or anywhere, that kind of benefit is also there.”

On advice for aspiring creators, he was rather straightforward: “First, start creating, don’t think too much. Second, stop being hard on yourself. Because you can’t limit yourself when you are starting, you have to go for it, don’t stop, let it flow, don’t wait for any validation. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you something because I remember when I was starting, my classmates were like, ‘what crap I’m doing,’ but if I had stopped at that time, I wouldn’t have been sitting here.”