Reel craze ends up in police action

How some YouTubers turned public spaces into prank stages for viral content, resulting in arrests.

Transcript

00:00An elderly man was riding his bicycle on a busy road in Jhansi when two men on a motorcycle

00:09sprayed white foam on him.

00:11Covered in foam and disoriented, the man continued riding his bicycle unable to see a thing.

00:16The two men on the bike laughed as they continued spraying foam on his face.

00:26The police said the incident took place near the elite Chitra Road flyover in Jhansi's

00:30Nawabad area.

00:32One of the two men was identified as YouTuber Vinay Yadav who is known to carry out pranks

00:37and stunts to go viral on social media.

00:52In India, the reel industry is currently valued at Rs 45,000 crore and by 2030, it is expected

00:59to reach Rs 1 lakh crore.

01:01According to a 2022 study by RedSeer Strategy, Indians, on an average, consume 38 minutes

01:07of short-form videos every day.

01:09Another study by Kalari Capital said that India has 8 crore reel creators.

01:14However, only 1.5 lakh make an earning from it.

01:17Of the 8 crore reel creators, only less than 1% have over 10 lakh followers.

01:22They have the potential to earn anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 54 lakh.

01:27Such incidents of reel makers indulging in acts causing public nuisance are not strayed.

01:32Earlier in September, a video of a 23-year-old man lying motionless on a busy road in Kasganj

01:38pretending to be dead went viral.

01:40In the video, his body was seen covered with a white bedsheet, cotton stuffed in his nostrils

01:44and a flower garland around his neck.

01:47He was a YouTuber identified as Mukesh Kumar.

01:50Later in the video, it was seen that Kumar suddenly got up and burst into laughter.

02:20In another case, a Delhi man made a reel of him sitting on a chair in the middle of the

02:33road.

02:34He was arrested by the Delhi police soon after the video went viral.

02:37Despite strict action, the number of people making reels in public places has not decreased.

02:42Some have even lost their lives while making reels.

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