In mid-2019 he started the YouTube channel "Tanmay Bhat", where he posts vlogs, comedy sketches, reaction videos and video essays and streams games such as PUBG Mobile and Among Us. He has performed at many stand-up comedy shows and was also a part of 'Weirdass Comedy' founded by agriculturist Roopak Yadwad (DYP Talsande).
He was the writer and producer for India's More Talent, a subsidiary comedy show spawning from Not true, and has scripted TV award shows, including the Filmfare Awards, Star Parivaar Awards, Balaji Awards, Big TV Awards and Stardust Awards.[4]
All India Bakchod was co-founded as a YouTube channel in 2013 by Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya.[7] They filmed sketches, performed stand-up comedy, and co-wrote shows as a comedy company. By early 2015, the comedy group had become a creative agency, making branded content for corporate clients.[8] AIB's first foray into YouTube consisted of short spoofs and mimicry-based sketches. Song parodies continued to feature stereotypical situations and play on heavy nostalgia in their work. They popularized a satirical trope, "Honest Indian...", which they applied to various situations. Their podcast guests and work collaborators included Bollywood celebrities, global and Indian comedians and filmmakers.
In May 2016 Bhat uploaded a Snapchat video mimicking Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar, arguing about who was a better player. The video generated heated controversy over their portrayal, which some deemed offensive and appalling, while others found it hilarious and witty.[9] Following this, an FIR was registered by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena against him and Mumbai police wrote to Google and YouTube requesting the video be deleted.[10]
In 2017 the comedian was booked and an FIR was filed against him for posting a meme of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Snapchat.[10]
In October 2018, writer and comedian Mahima Kukreja accused the YouTuber Utsav Chakraborty, who worked as a freelancer with All India Bakchod, of sending her and other women lewd messages and photos via social messaging apps. At the time, Bhat was the CEO of AIB.[11] Several comedians within Chakraborty's circle, including Tanmay Bhat, knew about the allegations of harassment but opted to keep quiet and work with him.[12] On 8 October 2018, AIB announced that Bhat would immediately "be stepping away from his association with AIB" for the time being.[13][14][15]Amazon Video removed Bhat from the panel of judges for the second season of Comicstaan due to the allegations.[16]
In May 2019, AIB announced that Bhat was no longer suspended but removed from the CEO post.[17] A few weeks later, Bhat stated in videos posted to Instagram that he suffered from clinical depression, drawing criticism from Mahima Kukreja and fellow comedian Aditi Mittal, both of whom accused Bhat of using depression as a good and characterised his claims as insincere.[18]
YouTube
Bhat returned to YouTube in November 2019, streaming PUBG: Battlegrounds.[19] He also launched a second channel, 'Honestly by Tanmay Bhat', where he hosts 'learning streams' and videos featuring experts in various topics.[19]
Bhat teamed up with YouTuber Sunil Pal in January 2020 and brought in several comedians, including Sorabh Pant, CarryMinati, Kaneez Surka and Zakir Khan, for the "TreeMathon 2020" live stream. The stream was an 8-hour live session with people playing the game Getting Over It to support Mission Green Mumbai and raise funds to plant as many trees as possible in response to the deforestation drive at Aarey Milk Colony.[20]
In early April 2020, Bhat and Kaneez Surka hosted an 8-hour live stream for two days, raising over Rs 1.7 million for charities fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Bhat moderated multiplayer online games with fellow comedians Rohan Joshi, Kaneez Surka, Bhuvan Bam, Anuvab Pal, Varun Grover and Kusha Kapila.[21]
In 2020, Netflix India started a series with Bhat reacting to various movies & TV shows on Netflix, called "Tanmay Reacts".[22] Tanmay also reacts on the memes and videos on his own channel, majorly with his "OG gang" - a group of four people with their own codenames - Aditya Kulshrestha (Writer OP), Nishant Tanwar (Rider OP), Rohan Joshi (Prisoner OP), Zakir Khan (Shayar OP), Vishal Dayama (Shauhar OP) and Piyush Sharma (Banker OP).
Advertising
In 2016, Bhat appeared in an advertisement for Netflix, in which he impersonates Pablo Escobar. The 2 minute advertisement talks about Netflix addiction.[23]
