Hyderabad: A few years ago, most Indian households opened YouTube mainly for movie songs, trailers, and music albums. Today, it feels like a TV for every home: travel vlogs, street-food reviews, fitness, tech, comedy, interviews, study videos, devotional content, recipes, and even full-length podcasts.
Indian creators are growing every year
What’s driving the growth is variety. Creators have moved beyond entertainment and are building loyal audiences with unique niches: budget travel, local food, small-business tips, language learning, exam prep, personal finance, and hyperlocal news.
Short videos are a big reason for this speed. YouTube has said Shorts hit 200 billion daily views globally, showing how quickly “scroll and watch” content can explode.
“Bandar Apna Dost” YouTube Income
Now comes the most surprising chapter: a strange, colourful AI channel from India called Bandar Apna Dost.
Kapwing’s report lists Bandar Apna Dost as the most-viewed in this category, with an estimated income of Rs. 38 crores (4.25 million USD) a year.
So what do the videos look like? Short animated clips with a rhesus monkey and a muscular, Hulk-like character, packed with loud visuals and absurd action. Often there’s no dialogue, no subtitles, and no real plot, which makes it easy for anyone to watch.
The channel has reportedly crossed 2.07 billion views and 2.76 million subscribers.
According to a Kapwing study that analysed around 15,000 top YouTube channels, 278 channels were classified as pure “AI slop”, together crossing 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers.
The scale is massive. Google’s ad data suggests YouTube reached 462 million users in India in early 2024.
And YouTube itself says India is now a “creator nation”. In May 2025, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced YouTube will invest over Rs. 850 crore in the next two years to boost Indian creators and media companies.
