Bareilly's digital boom: How labourers, painters, scrap dealers turned YouTube stars; meet the million-follower club of Hajiyapur
Take Javed Hussain, for example. He used to work as a labourer, making Rs 200-300 a day. He now runs a comedy channel on YouTube that has 5.6 million subscribers. 'I never thought this would be my profession. Now I create skits and also give work to others.'
There are several such success stories in the area, and not necessarily limited to the youth. Md Movin, 65, who used to collect scrap for a living, started his channel 'Chacha' on YouTube in 2022.
It now has around 7 million subscribers. 'I funded my eldest daughter's wedding from my video earnings. I plan to do the same for my three other daughters,' says Movin. 'I've gone through a lot of pain in life, but I tried to keep smiling. I use that jolly side in my videos, which are mostly inspired by my own experiences.'
But no success story here is bigger perhaps than that of Ishaan Ali's. A political science graduate with an MBA, Ishaan was struggling to land a job when he turned to YouTube.
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Today, his channel, @IshaanAli11, has 36 million subscribers, placing him among India's top digital content creators. Inspired by Ishaan's success, his younger brother, Aadil, followed suit. His channel, @AaadilAli11 has 1.2 million subscribers.
Their father, once a bicycle mechanic, couldn't afford to build a home. Today, the brothers are raking in crores.
'I had a dream that people would gather around me like they gather around Sallu bhai (Bollywood actor Salman Khan),' Ishaan told TOI .
What sets Hajiyapur apart is not just the success stories, but the scale of transformation. Where once power cuts were routine and unemployment rampant, nearly every household today has someone experimenting with digital content — from cooking to comedy, stitching to social issues.
Arshad Ali, 23, used to earn Rs 400-500 a day painting walls. Now, he makes short comedy videos for his channel @ArshadAli11, which has close to a million subscribers.
And it's not just entertainment. Akash Kumar, 29, a trained journalist who struggled to and a job in a mainstream newsroom, began reporting on social media instead. His Facebook page, 'The Gali Mohalla Show,' covers issues in remote areas and garners close to 10 lakh views a day. 'Initially, I just wanted to show media houses that I am a good reporter. But now, it has become a source of income. I recently bought my dream car,' he says.
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