Arunabh Kumar
Arunabh Kumar (born 26 November 1982) is an Indian web series director and the founder of The Viral Fever, an online entertainment source that works upon presenting social issues in an entertaining way. He was the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of The Viral Fever but later stepped down after being accused of sexual harassment by a former employee and several other women.[1][2]
Arunabh Kumar | ||||||||||
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Born | Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India | 26 November 1982|||||||||
Nationality | Indian | |||||||||
Education | IIT, Kharagpur | |||||||||
Occupation | Web series director, founder and former CEO of The Viral Fever | |||||||||
Years active | 2010–present | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Also known as | The Qtiyapa Guy | |||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2011–present | |||||||||
Genre | Comedy | |||||||||
Subscribers | 7.26 million | |||||||||
Total views | 895.39 million | |||||||||
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Updated 21 July 2020 | ||||||||||
Early life
Arunabh Kumar was brought up in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.[3] After completing his B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, he joined Shah Rukh Khan's production house Red Chillies Entertainment as an assistant’s position under Farah Khan. He was the assistant director for the movie Om Shanti Om.
MTV rejected his creation Engineer's Diary which led to the launching of The Viral Fever.[4][5]
Controversies
Arunabh Kumar found himself amidst a controversy in March 2017. Over 50 women stepped up to accuse him of sexual harassment after an anonymous Medium post titled The Indian Uber- That is TVF.[6][7][8]
FIR filed against Kumar on 17 March 2017 on the basis of a 3rd party complaint made by a Mumbai-based lawyer. On March 29, 2017, he was booked for molestation after a woman filed a police complaint in Mumbai.[9] Following this, a second FIR was filed against him while his whereabouts were unknown. [10]
On 16 June 2017, Kumar, accused in multiple sexual harassment cases, has stepped down as TVF CEO and gave the charge to Dhawal Gusain.
Awards and achievements
- The Economic Times 40 under Forty list for 2016[11]
- Fortune Top 40 under 40 list for 2015[12] and 2016[13][14]
- GQ's List of Most Influential Young Indians for 2015[15] & 2016
- "Entrepreneur" List of 10 Geniuses Redefining Creativity, 2016[16]
- Man's World - Men of the Year, 2014[17]
- AFAQs - "Newsmaker of the Year" in 2014.[18]
References
- "TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar Steps Down: Read Full Text Of His Statement". NDTV.com. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- "Mumbai Film Festival Diary 2014: On day 5, comedians talk about social media's cool new generation of stars in Alia and Parineeti". IBN Live. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- Saxena, Aditi (6 February 2015). "This IIT Kharagpur alumnus is the brain behind The Viral Fever Media". The Economic Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- "How MTV's rejection and cocaine addiction created Q-tiyapa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- "EC – How an IITian sodomized by MTV created his own youth channel – The Viral Fever bluff". enoogle. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- "Tlolhe Indian Uber- That is TVF". 12 March 2017.
- "Several people accuse TVF CEO of sexual harassment". 15 March 2017.
- "An IIT Grad, A Viral Video Start-Up, Sex Harassment Allegations: 10 Facts". 15 March 2017.
- "TVF molestation row: Founder-CEO Anurabh Kumar booked after a victim registers case in Mumbai". Indian Express. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- "Second FIR lodged against TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar on charges of sexual harassment". Hindustan Times. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- Staff, ET (29 September 2015). "40 under Forty: Celebrating Young Leaders".
- "Our Founder &CEO featured in @FortuneMagazine Top 40 undr 40 Biz Leaders". The Viral Fever official | Twitter. 14 March 2015.
- "Fortune India 40 Under 40".
- "Our Founder & CEO Arunabh Kumar aka @TheQtiyapaGuy in Fortune 40 Under 40 for the 2nd year in a row". TVF PITCHERS OFFICIAL | Twitter. 18 February 2016.
- "The 50 most influential young Indians". 27 July 2015.
- "10 Geniuses Who Are Redefining the Future of Creativity". ENTREPRENEUR INDIA. 30 January 2016.
- "Men of the Year 2014". 9 January 2015.
- "People in the News".