CarryMinati Defends His Delhi-Style ‘Gaalis’: ‘It’s Just How We Talk’

For most students, Class 12 is one of the most crucial turning points in life. For Ajey Nagar, better known by his online name CarryMinati, it was the moment he decided to take a completely different path.

Instead of sitting for his board exams, the young creator chose to follow his passion for content creation. It was a risk that would eventually make him one of India’s biggest YouTubers.

With nearly 45.2 million subscribers, CarryMinati is now the most-subscribed individual YouTuber in Asia, celebrated for his roasting videos, reactions, live gaming streams, and comedy sketches. His rise to fame, as he revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, came with its share of struggles and tough choices.

Why CarryMinati Skipped His Class 12 Exam

Recalling an incident from 2014, he said, “I had my economics exam. My YouTube channel, I won’t say it was doing very well, it just had around 90,000 subscribers,” he said.

“I went to my dad and told him that I won’t be able to give this exam. He was watching The Kapil Sharma Show at that time and laughed because Kapil had cracked a joke. But then I told him again, and he looked at me for some time and said, ‘Okay,’ and went back to watching the show.”

What happened next, CarryMinati recalled, left him stunned. “The next day, my brother went to my school, got the transfer certificate, and told me, ‘Do what you want to do now.’ And I was like, what? So, I dropped out of Class 12. I didn’t give that exam.”

CarryMinati’s Comeback After Viral Video Was Taken Down

He also revisited one of the biggest controversies of his career, the removal of his viral video “YouTube vs TikTok: The End”, which was taken down by YouTube for violating its community guidelines on harassment and bullying.

The video had millions of views within hours.

The digital creator shared, “It was too good to be true, that’s what I told my brother and cousin, who is also my manager, when all that was happening. And as it turned out, it was too good to be true, because five days later the video was deleted. And my brother was very affected and he was like we should do something. And so we created a song called Yalgaar. And that night I can’t forget, he was on fire, I was on fire, we wrote it, we made it, and it is the most viewed content on my channel till date.”

How CarryMinati Handles Criticism Over His Language

While he commands a massive fan following, CarryMinati has often faced criticism for his use of abusive language in videos, something many also consider a part of his unique style and appeal.

He said, “See, we come from Delhi. And you know, in Delhi, it’s very common. It’s in my upbringing, not from my parents, of course, but among friends, it’s just how we talk.” He added that for him, such language is more of a natural expression than an insult.

“I’ve never thought of gaalis as something unusual or special; it’s just how we converse. If I show you my chats with friends, which I won’t, you’ll see that’s just how it is,” he joked. “More than using it to make someone feel bad, it’s more like an expression. Especially for people in Delhi, I’d say. I don’t know about Bombay; I haven’t lived here much.”

CarryMinati On The Challenges That Come With Success

Speaking about the challenges that come with fame, CarryMinati spoke about the loneliness that often accompanies success. He admitted that while he is grateful for where he has reached, being at the top can sometimes feel isolating.

“I think I’m at a decent level,” he said. “But you know, all my friends around me, I won’t say they’re not doing well, they are, but maybe not as well as me. And because of that, sometimes you kind of feel lonely. At the position I’m in, I’m the only one there. There’s nobody else to tell you, ‘Okay, this is how you should go,’ or ‘Do this, this will work.’ You don’t know, because you’re discovering things on your own. You’ll fail, but you have to keep going.”

He went on to describe how success has also changed his social life, making it difficult to spend time with friends the way he once did. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a proper trip with my friends,” he admitted. “Right now, they’re all very hardworking individuals, still in that phase where they’re trying to make it. And I’m in a phase where I’m trying to grow. So for us to decide, ‘Let’s go here’ or ‘Let’s plan this trip,’ it’s very hard.”

Despite this sense of isolation, CarryMinati clarified that he doesn’t view it negatively. “Yes, it gets a little lonely,” he said. “But it’s not sad at all. It’s actually quite enjoyable.”