VIRAL IN THE VALLEY

YouTubers in Kashmir are gaining popularity while creating comedy around socially relevant themes

- TARIQ BHAT

MAKING COMEDY in conflict-ridden Kashmir is no laughing matter.

But a bunch of YouTubers from the Valley—all in their 20s—are doing just that, earning both fame and a living. With little access to movie theatres and other sources of entertainment, people in Kashmir are turning to YouTube channels to find some relief, comic and otherwise. What make these channels popular are their comic content, simple language and good acting, taking one back to the 1980s and 1990s when Kashmiri serials on Doordarshan and actors like the late Shadi Lal Koul and Nazir Josh were quite popular.

But these videos are not just for laughs; they have a message at their core. For instance, in Berozgar Ti Azuk Jawan (Unemployment and Today’s Youth) by Kashmiri Rounders, a man meets the father of a girl whom his son, an unemployed doctor, wants to marry. The girl’s father refuses to let his daughter marry an unemployed man, but agrees to marry her off to the man’s elder son, who is disabled but a well-paid engineer. The channel, with more than 9.5 lakh subscribers, is among the most popular Kashmiri YouTube channels.

Likewise, 'Before and after elections' by Kashmiri Kalkharabs, which has more than 8.5 lakh subscribers, tells the story of an MLA making tall promises before elections. After getting elected, he mistreats his supporters, including a village elder who requests him for an irrigation pump for farmers. He tells him they should plant maize instead of rice, which needs less water. The video aims to highlight the hypocrisy of politicians and how they deceive people for power.