Get All Access for $5/mo

RJ Abhinav: The Journey From Engineer to Comedy Influencer Being a content creator was never the plan, in fact during any career counselling session, the only terms he used to hear was engineer or doctor, which is what most of his classmates opted for.

By Kabir Singh Bhandari

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

RJ Abhinav

To the clueless bystander, RJ Abhinav with his beard style would probably come across as a slight doppelganger of the lead's mask from V For Vendetta (2005), but to his four million Instagram followers, he's someone who regularly entertains them with his comic sketches.

Being a content creator was never the plan, in fact during any career counselling session, the only terms he used to hear was engineer or doctor, which is what most of his classmates opted for. "Eventually I did a degree in Computer Science Engineering. But the one thing I was very interested in was listening to the radio right from my school days, because of which I would end up winning a lot of the radio contests where one had to dial in and answer the questions. So I knew what the entertainment world looked like from the outside," Abhinav tells us.

"After college I didn't get placed, so I started freelancing with a radio channel, after which there was no looking back as I found it to be a fascinating industry and got a lot of recognition. The appreciation was great, and after two years I also started making videos on YouTube since I wanted to utilize my acting skills. Although now when I look back at my earlier videos, it's what the present generation would refer to as cringe content!" he says.

The first time Abhinav's content went viral was when he did a parody on DJs at Indian weddings, which ended up being shared by a lot of DJs themselves. Regarding some videos not doing well, he believes that is something which is bound to happen, although the tricky part is when content backfires because people misinterpret it in another way, which he had not thought of. In that scenario there have been cases when he himself has deleted the video, if he felt that the content had a chance of being misunderstood, a tough decision, but being flexible is an important trait. With competition increasing with more content creators sprouting up every day, his plan for 2023 is stick to what he does best, and not be influenced by other creators, the increasing competition or changing algorithms.

The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari

Kabir Singh Bhandari

Former Senior Assistant Editor

Marketing

Are Your Business's Local Listings Accurate and Up-to-Date? Here Are the Consequences You Could Face If Not.

Why accurate local listings are crucial for business success — and how to avoid the pitfalls of outdated information.

Business News

'Passing By Wide Margins': Elon Musk Celebrates His 'Guaranteed Win' of the Highest Pay Package in U.S. Corporate History

Musk's Tesla pay package is almost 140 times higher than the annual pay of other high-performing CEOs.

Starting a Business

I Left the Corporate World to Start a Chicken Coop Business — Here Are 3 Valuable Lessons I Learned Along the Way

Board meetings were traded for barnyards as a thriving new venture hatched.

Productivity

Want to Be More Productive Than Ever? Treat Your Personal Life Like a Work Project.

It pays to emphasize efficiency and efficacy when managing personal time.

Growing a Business

He Immigrated to the U.S. and Got a Job at McDonald's — Then His Aversion to Being 'Too Comfortable' Led to a Fast-Growing Company That's Hard to Miss

Voyo Popovic launched his moving and storage company in 2018 — and he's been innovating in the industry ever since.

Business News

Apple Reportedly Isn't Paying OpenAI to Use ChatGPT in iPhones

The next big iPhone update brings ChatGPT directly to Apple devices.