If you had to pick a few things almost all Indians are crazy about, I am sure cricket and movies would be on the top of that list. Keeping this craze in mind, Priyambad Patnayak and Pratyush Prasanna started a website, The Gab Bar, that comprises articles on cricket, movies and culture.
The Gab Bar does not have reviews but well researched articles which make one think. “Everyone writes reviews and no one talks about the finer things that make the movie what it is. This is why we started such a website,” said Priyambad, 30.
The idea behind the website, Priyambad said, was to create a space that allows discussions on cricket, cinema or culture and dig into their details. The Gab Bar has writers from different walks of life writing about different aspects, making the site a unique one.
“The idea is to engage people and not give them stale content,” said Priyambad. “People stay on a page for five minutes at the most and we want to give them a five-minute trip on what they are reading,” he adds.
The website was started by the duo by chance. “Pratyush and I are both from Bhubaneswar and have been friends for a long time. One day, we were discussing how there was no online space that combines cricket, cinema and culture and it then it occurred to us, why not start one ourselves?” explained Priyambad who works at Tata Consultancy Services.
Priyambad also said that they chose the name The Gab Bar inspired by the character Gabbar Singh from Sholay. “We wanted something different and then after much contemplation, we stuck to Gabbar or The Gab Bar,” laughs Priyambad. Although the website is only a few months old, some of the articles published have gone viral on social networking sites. For instance, an article on Virat Kohli titled ‘Accepting Virat’ was one of the many pieces that did the rounds online. “The Virat Kohli piece is by far the most successful one. We received a lot of traffic and a lot of people started to take notice of us,” said Priyambad.
The website is updated every other day and is still supported by Priyambad and Pratyush’s day jobs. Pratyush, 32, works at Xerox. The Gab Bar is looking to add more articles on travel and to make things more exciting, the site also conducts a quiz every week.
“Ultimately, our goal is to make this a journal for Indians who are madly in love with cinema, cricket and culture,” said Priyambad.