India's Latest YouTube Sensation Is A Poor Village Grandma With An Alcoholic Husband

Nowadays, it’s no surprise when you see someone who is ordinary in every day to get instant, over-night fame, thanks to the Internet. However, the story of Gangavva Milkuri isn’t quite the same.

The grandmother with eight grandchildren doesn’t know exactly how old she is now as records of her birth have gone lost or have never been made. She is from the Lambadipally village in Telangana.

Despite that humble background and upbringing, Gangavva Milkuri is now the star of a YouTube channel called My Village Show, which has accumulated around 1.5 million subscribers and the number is increasing fast.

My Village Show started in 2012 with the help of Srikanth Sriram, a filmmaker, and also Gangavva Milkuri’s son-in-law. The team consists of nine people, cameramen, editors, and writers. What they do is to make comedic sketches of India’s rural life and village culture.

The grandma is widely known by her first name Gangavva and she said it wasn’t until Sriram started the show that she knew what YouTube was. She shared that she used to see him filming trees in the village and wondered why he wasted his time making videos. Much to her amazement, she isn’t only in his videos but also an Internet sensation and rising star.

Gangavva first appeared as a guest in the sketches and in 2017, her involvement became so much more prominent. Her involvement coincides with when the show started to take off.

According to Sriram, Gangavva is illiterate so the crew has to explain the script to her. However, she acts naturally in front of the camera, which is why her fans love her so much. He also said her charisma came from the unrehearsed nature of her performance.

Gangavva said she thought people loved her because of the way she talks and the fact that she was old and uneducated.

Before becoming a YouTube sensation, Gangavva Milkuri’s life was hard. She marries an alcoholic so she has to roll cigarettes and do farm work to support her son and her two daughters. She receives no formal education and left school in the first grade. Her life changes for the better when she became involved with My Village Show.

The channel’s fame reflects a broader change in the way Indians enjoy online content. YouTube has become hugely popular in the country with over 265 million active users, according to Tu Nguyen, spokesperson of YouTube's Asia Pacific.

She said the platform is where creators from different backgrounds can find their audience.

According to her, the interest stems from the fact that the language used in the show is Telugu, Gangavva’s mother tongue and the language of Telangana. Regional channels beyond English and Hindi are enjoying a surge in demand.

Nguyen also mentioned a recent rise in niche topics in the country when people are more interested in farming and female-led channel. This is why My Village Show enjoys such a tremendous success.

Last year, the show was awarded a golden plate when it reaches its one million subscribers.

Showing the satirical aspects of rural life, from Wi-Fi issues to Diwali celebration, the channel gives the village of Lambadipally the spotlight it has never had. The biggest hit to date of the team is the Village lo Drunk and Drive video, which has more than 30 million views.

Gangavva’s fame doesn’t stop with YouTube. She has her own Instagram account with more than 41,000 followers. In 2019, she stared in two Telugu movies, Mallesham and iSmart Shankar.

It wasn’t until recently that the famous grandma had the chance to travel outside of her home village and according to her, she enjoys this fame very much.

She said she liked being in front of the camera and she was happy to know that people from all over India watch the show, adding that she took selfies with fans who traveled to her village.

The revenue the channel generates, mostly from advertising, has helped Gangavva to pay her debts. She also hopes to have enough money to build a new house in the future.

The profits are shared between her, Sriram, and the village. They have set up an open library in their office.

Sriram said YouTube was changing lives and if we could use it for good, almost anyone could be a star and solved their problems.

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