Arunabh Kumar (born 26 November 1982) is an Indian entrepreneur, producer, director, screenwriter, and an actor. He is the founder of streaming platform, The Viral Fever (TVF). His shows are often characterized by parody, lightheartedness, youth oriented, and competitive exams in India.
Arunabh Kumar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 November 1982 Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Spouse |
Shruti Ranjan (m. 2022) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life and career
editArunabh Kumar was brought up in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.[1] 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.[2]
MTV rejected his creation Engineer's Diary which led to the launching of The Viral Fever.[3][4]
Personal life
editIn 2022, Kumar married his girlfriend of 10 years, Shruti Ranjan.[5]
Sexual misconduct allegations
editIn March 2017, Kumar was accused by an anonymous person, who used the pseudonym "Indian Fowler" on website Medium.[6] In the post titled "The Indian Uber — That is TVF", she wrote that she was propositioned and sexually harassed by Kumar on multiple occasions and that it had become "routine".[7][8][9] After the anonymous blog post, nine more women came forward and made allegations of sexual misconduct against Kumar.[10][11] After almost three days, there were 50 women who accused him for sexual allegations.[12]
On 29 March 2017, he was booked for molestation after a woman filed a police complaint in Mumbai.[13] Following day, a second FIR was filed against him on charges of sexual harassment.[14] The first complainant was a 26-year-old woman who worked for a production house and was also a writer. The incident, she alleged, took place at TVF's office in May 2016, when she interacted with Arunabh over some project. TVF denied all the allegations and said that they would "leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice for making such false allegations.".[15][16][17]
Following the allegations, Kumar was arrested on 22 April 2017 but was released on bail the same day after paying a bond of Rs. 10,000.[18][19] On 16 June 2017, Kumar who was accused in multiple sexual harassment cases, stepped down as TVF CEO and gave the charge to Dhawal Gusain.[20][21]
After a hiatus of 3 years, He rejoined TVF (The Viral Fever) as a mentor.[22][23] On 28 December 2022, Mumbai court acquitted Kumar of all the charges, 5 years after he faced charges for sexual misconduct.[24][25][26][27]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Role | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Om Shanti Om | Transgender auditioning for Shantipriya's role | Uncredited; also assistant director |
| 2020 | Such is Life | — | Producer only; Short film |
| 2022 | Chhath Mahaparv | — | Producer only; Short film |
| 2024 | Powder | — | Producer only; Kannada film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-2023 | Permanent Roommates | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2015-2022 | TVF Pitchers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also portrayed Yogendra Kumar "Yogi" Pandey |
| 2015 | Barely Speaking with Arnub | Yes | ||||
| 2016 | F.A.T.H.E.R.S | Yes | ||||
| 2016-2023 | Humorously Yours | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2016-2022 | TVF Tripling | Yes | ||||
| 2016-present | The Aam Aadmi Family | Yes | ||||
| 2017-present | TSP's Rabish ki Report | Yes | ||||
| 2017 | Bisht, Please! | Yes | ||||
| Office v Office | Yes | |||||
| 2018-2022 | Girls Hostel | Yes | ||||
| 2018-2021 | Engineering Girls | Yes | ||||
| 2018-present | Flames | Yes | ||||
| 2018-2024 | Yeh Meri Family | Yes | ||||
| 2018-2023 | College Romance | Yes | ||||
| 2019-present | Cubicles | Yes | ||||
| ImMATURE | Yes | |||||
| Kota Factory | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Gullak | Yes | |||||
| 2019-2023 | Hostel Daze | Yes | ||||
| 2020 | CommitMental | Yes | Telugu language show | |||
| 2020-present | Panchayat | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2021-present | Aspirants | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2021 | The Interns | Yes | ||||
| 2022 | NCR Days | Yes | ||||
| Bade Chote Jasoos | Yes | |||||
| Sixerr | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Bachelors vs the World | Yes | |||||
| Sisters | Yes | |||||
| Sonu Beauty Parlour | Yes | |||||
| Baap Beta Aur Office | Yes | |||||
| Dadugiri | Yes | |||||
| Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt. Ltd. | Yes | Yes | ||||
| The Winning Secrets | Yes | |||||
| Who's your Gynac | Yes | |||||
| 2023 | Half CA | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Kaalkoot | Yes | Yes | ||||
| SK Sir ki Class | Yes | |||||
| Angrezi Mat Jhad | Yes | |||||
| Engga Hostel | Yes | Tamil language show | ||||
| Arranged Couple | Yes | |||||
| The Talent Manager | Yes | |||||
| Hostel Days | Yes | Telugu language show | ||||
| Sandeep Bhaiya | Yes | |||||
| Builders | Yes | |||||
| Sapne vs Everyone | Yes | |||||
| Mom @ Work | Yes | |||||
| 2024 | Very Parivarik | Yes | Yes | |||
| Sisterhood | Yes | |||||
| Industry | Yes |
Awards and achievements
editHe was included in the list of The Economic Times 40 under Forty list for 2016,[28] Fortune Top 40 under 40 list for 2015,[29] GQ's List of Most Influential Young Indians for 2015 and 2016,[30] "Entrepreneur" List of 10 Geniuses Redefining Creativity of 2016.[31] He was also awarded Man's World - Men of the Year in 2014,[32] and AFAQs- "Newsmaker of the Year" in 2014.[33]
References
edit- ^ Saxena, Aditi (6 February 2015). "This IIT Kharagpur alumnus is the brain behind The Viral Fever Media". The Economic Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ^ "Not Deepika Padukone, Ex-TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar Auditioning for Shah Rukh Khan's Heroine Role in Om Shanti Om is Memorable! | India.com". www.india.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "How MTV's rejection created Q-tiyapa". Hindustan Times. 24 December 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "EC – How an IITian sodomized by MTV created his own youth channel – The Viral Fever bluff". enoogle. Retrieved 21 March 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "TVF founder Arunabh Kumar ties the knot with girlfriend Shruti Ranjan, see pics". Indian Express. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ "Tlolhe Indian Uber- That is TVF". 12 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ "TVF founder Arunabh Kumar faces case of sexual harassment". 30 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ "Several people accuse TVF CEO of sexual harassment". The Times of India. 15 March 2017.
- ^ "An IIT Grad, A Viral Video Start-Up, Sex Harassment Allegations: 10 Facts". 15 March 2017.
- ^ "Arunabh Kumar TVF Harassment Controversy". INC42. 14 March 2017.
- ^ "TVF Founder Arunabh Kumar and the Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Him". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "Are there over 50 sexual harassment accusations against TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar now?". IndiaToday. 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.
- ^ "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. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "ARUNABH KUMAR". IndiaToday. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ "TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar arrested on sexual harassment charges; released on Rs 10,000 bail". FIRSTPOST. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ "TVF Founder Arunabh Kumar Gets Anticipatory Bail In Sexual Harassment Case". NDTV. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Arunabh Kumar steps down as TVF CEO". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ "TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar, Accused of Sexual Harassment, Steps Down".
- ^ "Main Founding Members of 'TVF-The Viral Fever' Quit". India Forums. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ "Vijay Koshy makes a comeback to TVF as President". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ^ "Mumbai court acquits TVF founder Arunabh Kumar in 2017 sexual harassment case". Hindustan Times. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "TVF founder Arunabh Kumar Acquitted In Sexual Harassment Case". NDTv.
- ^ "In a 2017 sexual harassment case, a Mumbai court acquitted TVF founder Arunabh Kumar". In a 2017 sexual harassment case, a Mumbai court acquitted TVF founder Arunabh Kumar. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ Sadaf Modak (28 December 2022). "Delay in filing FIR: TVF founder Arunabh Kumar cleared of harassment charge".
- ^ "40 under Forty: Celebrating Young Leaders". 29 September 2015.
- ^ "40 Under 40". Fortune India.
- ^ "The 50 most influential young Indians". 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "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". Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2016.