Noida boy Mridul Tiwari was 18 when he made his first video titled Sister Vs Girlfriend in October 2018. Within a year, his channel @The MriDul had 100K subscribers. Today, it has over 7.7 million subscribers to his family-friendly content, mainly desi videos highlighting the village life and its related humour.
"I was an enthusiastic, fun loving child, always ready to explore new things.Earlier, I wanted to pursue hotel management, but my love for creating new things brought me here among the top YouTube influencers," reveals the young digital content creator, who has over 1M followers on Facebook and 240K followers on Instagram.
Tiwari's initial videos were on random topics like types of aashiq (lovers), bikers, problems in winter, and such. But now, his sole focus is life in the village with humour at the crux. It is also the reason why his videos are in Hindi and other local dialects so it reaches a wider audience.
"My idea of showing the desi lifestyle with desi comedy makes the content more entertaining and engaging. My aim behind creating such content for my audience is to bring a smile on their faces in these gloomy times. Whether it was reaching my first 100K followers or receiving my first Silver YouTube button, all these moments are special to me," he says
"But seeing my name in YouTube's 2020 list of Top 10 creators was not less than a dream. It was a tremendously joyous day of my life, and this is all because of the constant support of my team and my viewers," adds the 20-year-old, currently pursuing BSc from Meerut University, after his schooling from Arya Deep Public School in Greater Noida.
Tiwari, who has done brand collaborations with U-Dictionary, Duolingo, Binomo and Upstox for advertisements and shoots, has over 70 videos to his credit. "I take inspiration from day-to-day life and activities. By observing the habits of people around me, I narrate them as different characters in my videos, and this concept of learning from people helps me in making humorous and light-hearted content," he adds.
All his videos are shot at his Surajpur farmhouse near Greater Noida, despite experiencing difficulty in doing so considering the lockdown restrictions in the pandemic. Managing studies with a busy social life continues to remain a struggle.
"I study late at night and finish the shoots in the morning. Being an influencer is not as easy as it looks, but every challenge has surely helped me become a better person," he adds, with already sights on achieving a 10 million fan base.
"And all through this journey, my parents have always been supportive. Whether as a social media nfluencer or a content creator, I was always asked to follow my instincts, be honest and consistent with my work," he concludes.