WION exclusive! CarryMinati: My alter ego made me from being invisible to widely recognised

His videos may have landed him in trouble in the past, but CarryMinati (CM) remains--to this day--one of the most successful content creators India has ever produced. Born as Ajey Nagar, CM thinks his alter ego was a major confidence booster in his life and helped shape his digital career in ways more than one. "It felt amazing to (be) recognised due to the fan appreciation, something like what we see in the superhero films," he says, proudly.

All of 22, CarryMinati wants it all: a booming acting career, the gamer's high, giving wings to his musical inclinations and never being irrelevant.

In an exclusive interview with WION, the uber successful content creator talks about navigating his awkward teenage years and coming out of his cocoon through CarryMinati, expresses his concerns over people associating virtual harassment culture to his rant videos, and reveals why he will be a gambler for life.

Unedited excerpts from our conversation with the digital star:

You just completed eight years of being this public persona, CarryMinati. You were too young, some may even say just a child, when you were starting out. What has these years taught you?

Like Spider man said, "With great power comes great responsibility." While what I do appears to be the most entertaining job on the planet there are a lot of limitations that tag along with the responsibility of being Asia’s number 1 YouTube creator and adds up to the whole pressure. You see it’s not enough to simply generate great content. The audience expects consistency, novelty and frequency if you want to stand out in a crowd. Without these, it’s incredibly easy to slip off the radar and lose favour with the algorithm that gave you your success. The pressure helps me build the best version of myself.

How is Ajey Nagar different from his alter ego, CarryMinati?

Ajey is a very private, non-controversial and loving person. I enjoy my alone time at home and have a very close-knit circle. My alter ego gives me that driving force to look forward to a new day and be grateful for it. I gained confidence with the CarryMinati moniker as I am an introvert. It felt amazing to go from being invisible to being widely recognised due to the fan appreciation, something like the superhero fictional films.

Your brother has ventured into music and you are supporting him like any brother would. What advice did you give him about showbiz?

Always believe in your art despite what the world and the naysayers say and never underestimate the power of the hustle, your inner voice and the fans. Wily Frenzy is such an amazing DJ and producer and I feel he has a great future awaiting him. He has a great eye for detail and aesthetics.

You are heavily into gaming, rants, sketches, acting and of course, music. Are you venturing into multiple avenues just to explore or we will see all these versions of you even five years down the line?

Age is just a number for me. I feel younger with every passing year. Maybe my style of content creation will change when I’m 30 plus but I’ll continue pursuing content creation because that’s my first love. By the time I’m 40 I may turn into a serial entrepreneur in the gaming industry, you just never know where life takes you! My last video ‘Cancel Culture’ where I tried an English sketch for the first time, got a lot of love from the across the globe audience, I would like to incorporate it more in the coming videos so that my content could appeal to a global audience. I maybe want to get to the point of being the most loved YouTuber and gamer in the world through continued fan support. After the success of ‘Uncanny Roaches’ I also plan to invest in an animated web series with my business partner Deepak Char. With the advent of technology, the exposure to the online world has doubled and today content creators are as important as cricketers and Bollywood stars in the ecosphere.

I personally do not support any kind of cyber bullying, trolling, abuse and harassment in any form and I have disclaimers. I do get shocked when people react to my videos as a medium of profanity harassment because that’s a total disrespect to my art. My passion isn’t built on any form of exploitation. There is a hairline difference between roasting and commentary videos. The formats are the same but the nature is completely different. A roast is meant to be silly, ridiculous, hard hitting whereas a commentary is meant to be opinionated, quirky and relatable. I use a character who is frustrated, angry and aggressive to play out my scenes which are pre-recorded shoots and not lives. Yes, roasting is a new concept for a lot of people but I believe it will be full blown in the next decade as sensibilities become more cosmopolitan. You can’t always expect people to say nice things about you, you need to be a sport when the bad things come your way, because everyone will have an opinion that you may not like. I mean I was roasted a hundred times before I even took this profession up seriously and I took all of it in my stride. Stand-up comedy also faced a similar resistance in its formative years till it became a fad.

You are never afraid to be emotional in front of your audience. With time, have you been able to take that part of you?

Or, that’s just what one gets for being part of the CM brigade? My platform is a place where you can set yourself free and be your most authentic self without being judged most of the time and I think that's the biggest vantage point. Experimental content is the king of new age media today, and the algorithm loves you the most when content speaks to the audience and breaks stereotypes.

Acting must have been terrifying for you, given the names involved. Will you ever be Carry, the actor, and no longer Carry, the content creator?

Carry is multi-faceted and I like to view life through rose colored glasses. I can multi-task between roles and that’s my pedigree. But my first and last love will be content creation, everything I attempt in between is a gamble. My end goal was to positively impact many lives through my art and passion. Just like other performers I am here to entertain and allow the common man to escape momentarily from the clutches of mundane living. If you look around, notice how cases of stress and depression are constantly on the rise and people have forgotten how to be just content and happy, amongst all these the most fulfilling part is that I can inspire people to live optimistically. I can bring smiles to a million faces without having to actually do this in person and that’s so motivational. I am so grateful to the audience because without them I don’t think it would have been possible. I consider myself lucky and blessed to be in this position where people love me unconditionally. I believe more than the numbers, it’s about the impact you have on so many lives.