Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'

Photo: Noor A Alam

The words "Azke amar mon balo nei," have been echoing throughout the internet recently. So, what makes Bangalee netizens so gleefully sad? Well, thanks to one viral phone conversation on social media, people have been mimicking the words of Kashem Chacha, a character who is seeking constant validation in the Chatgaiya dialect. 

Kashem Chacha does not take a single advice from the real life Arotdaar (wholesaler) on the other end of their phone call! And he is talking with a paan (betel leaf) in his mouth the entire time. Anyone in their right mind would lose it when someone, probably with the mental age of a seven year old, keeps nagging on the phone and would stop at nothing.

Hold on a second, please. Before we start analysing why Kashem Chacha is that way, know that it is not actually Kashem Chacha on the line. Instead it was Kazi Hannan Ahmed Utsho, 26, the man pretending to be Kashem Chacha. 

The character Kashem Chacha is a real life person. Utsho has known him since childhood and Kashem Chacha used to have a paan stuffed in his mouth at all times, giving his voice the distinct tone we have all come to love.

Utsho, who loves to do casual mimicry of people, has been entertaining his friends with that voice for a very long time. One day as he was at it, they decided to record the session and make it available on the internet. 

Their first content to go viral on their YouTube channel 'Chittagainga TV' was the one where Utsho (alias Kashem Chacha) pranks a shopkeeper saying that he has proof the shopkeeper sells contrabands. 

The video spread like wildfire and a ripple effect of other similar content followed. Their later content also gained a lot of traction, like the one where Kashem Chacha drives an electrician to near madness with his characteristic tomfoolery. 

"That night I slept and in the morning I saw my subscriber number reached 2 lakh from 1. It's almost like winning a lottery, you can never tell which video will be viral," Utsho said. 

Utsho and his friends started Chittagainga TV in 2018, but the channel took off in late 2020. We see their content with a photo of a calm headed Shiba Inu (Utsho) calling a distressed Shiba (shopkeeper, electrician, painter, etc). 

The pranked Shiba feels more distress as the prank caller goes deeper into his mind-numbing expedition. This animated feature makes their content all the more enjoyable.

However, this layout was fanmade. Before this, their videos were simple call recordings. A fan once recreated a video in the aforementioned format and they instantly loved it. All their later videos came in this design ever since. 

Utsho creates content with Iqbal, Nishu and Fahad Bin Wahid Saqif, all of whom are friends. While Utsho retains Kashem Chacha's role, Iqbal, Nishu or Fahad Bin Wahid Saqif take turns to act as Kashem Chacha's unsuspecting victims. They record their conversations and none of them are ever scripted. 

Utsho creates content with Iqbal, Nishu and Saiful. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Their latest video where Kashem Chacha is eternally sad has already been viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube alone, notwithstanding the millions of views on Facebook and other video platforms. We sincerely hope that at least the millions of people rooting for Kashem Chacha makes him feel less sad. 

The idea for this video came when Utsho and his friends failed to complete on schedule a web series they are currently working on. That did make Utsho sad, but he chose to channel his sadness into something super funny and that was the inception of Kashem Chacha feeling blue.

Utsho is a full-time content creator. He had enrolled in Premier University in Chattogram, where he studied for a couple months, but studies did not sit well with him. So, he opted out of studying in favour of creating content.

"Studies never attracted me. I tried but I could not fit into the traditional career path. I didn't have a clear idea what I wanted to do, maybe I would have been a businessman. But luckily my YouTube channel and FB page is popular now and I want to do something in this field."

"I didn't open this channel to earn money, rather I wanted to entertain people. And I think that's the key to being successful in content making. If you have skill, if you can inspire people, if you love to do it, keep doing it for your audience, for yourself. Money will come eventually."

Contrary to popular belief, he has his parents' full support. "Whenever I make a video or audio, my parents are my first audience. I stare at my mother's face when she first watches my content. If she laughs, I will post that content. And if she doesn't, I know it's not funny and I will have to work on that more."

Many people are now mimicking the mimic artist Utsho himself and pranking real people. Utsho requests his followers to understand that he is only a content creator and keeps the pranks exclusively within his inner circle. Should anyone receive any prank calls trying to sound like Utsho, he wants all to know that it is not him.