Behind the scenes with Fun Revolution TV

‘A bunch of film enthusiasts who make satirical comedy based on contemporary situations’—that’s how they describe themselves online.

YouTube channel Fun Revolution TV hit 100K subscribers earlier this year, a milestone reached eight years after its establishment. Core members Anish Jung Thapa, Nimesh Shrestha, Isha Thapa and Sanjana Maharjan are now the faces of one of the most entertaining Nepali YouTube channels—a rightful honor after countless night shoots, script rewrites, reshoots and bloopers.

The channel wasn’t always called Fun Revolution TV. In its fetal stage in 2012, they had named it Stambha Entertainment, a channel that inconsistently uploaded skits and comedy videos once in a while. It was only after they met another popular creator, SuperMandip, in 2016 that Anish Jung Thapa and Nimesh Shrestha came up with the channel name that has now garnered more than 11.3 million views. Isha Thapa and Sanjana Maharjan joined them at the end of 2017 and mid-2018, respectively.

Popular for their nuanced Nepali satires, Fun Revolution TV makes all kinds of original content, ranging from comedy skits and short films to serials and mocumentaries. Their videos are built from scratch, with their own members writing scripts, directing, producing, acting, filming and editing. All four members act. The rest of the work is divided among themselves as well.

Isha Thapa

The youngest of the team, Isha Thapa, at 21, has already been in dozens of Fun Revolution TV videos. Currently studying Bachelors in Filmmaking, Thapa sees herself acting and writing for the rest of her life.

“I grew up with films and cameras thanks to my brothers,” Thapa says, referring to her older brothers who also studied filmmaking. “And I’ve always been interested in stories—consuming them on a daily basis through anime and novels.”  Before becoming a core member of this team, she was usually seen on SuperMandip’s channel, acting in his vines.

Besides acting, Thapa is responsible for much of the scriptwriting, and resists from turning anything into content unless she can give it some newness. “We value authenticity,” she tells ApEx.

Sanjana Maharjan

Sanjana Maharjan, 25, met the team behind Fun Revolution TV during their first workshop in 2018.

“I never thought acting or video-making would be something I would do,” Maharjan shares. “But I had just finished my Bachelors in Information Management and was looking to get out of my comfort zone.”

Even before joining the YouTubers, Maharjan was a huge fan of their work. So when the opportunity knocked, she took it without hesitation. Today, she writes scripts and acts in videos for the channel.

“I’ve always been shy and had a hard time speaking in front of people; being a part of this channel has helped me a lot,” she admits.

Also read: Yozana Thapa Magar: Overcoming her nature to make people laugh

Nimesh Shrestha

Shrestha always knew that filmmaking was for him.

“I’ve always wanted to do movies,” Shrestha confesses. “And after finishing my Bachelors in Filmmaking, I started chasing it.” He worked for a few companies as a freelancing cinematographer and cameraman. He too yearned to create something of his own.

Thus he reached out to Anish Jung Thapa, and together, they started the journey. Among the fans, Shrestha is popular for his charm. Over the last few years in which the channel has garnered fans, Shrestha is known as ‘that one guy with the long hair who acts really well’.

Beyond acting, Shrestha also looks after production and business . Between editing and directing the videos, he’s also running a small business with his wife.

Anish Jung Thapa

Co-founder of Fun Revolution TV Anish Jung Thapa—a filmmaker, producer, director, writer and all in all, a man of many talents—is the one leading the channel to its height today.

At 18, Thapa was “sure” about joining the military. But luck would have him pursue filmmaking. He was aware of its limitations—unstable income, late-night/early-morning shoots and so on—yet, he found himself wanting to go on. He began a small company with Shrestha called Stambha Entertainment, which didn’t fare well financially.

After its failure, both Shrestha and Thapa pursued their passion individually—Thapa trying to sell his scripts and Shrestha freelancing. One day, they came across SuperMandip and restarted making videos for their channel. Thapa was reluctant to get back to YouTube after Stambha’s failure, but Shrestha convinced him to give it another try. In 2017, they rebranded their company.

Their growth, slow and steady, was a result of teamwork and perseverance. It took Thapa eight months to write the script of ‘Boka Haru’. But after it blew up, and the channel started getting more recognition, their hard work started paying off.

“I’ve always valued quality and originality over anything else, and I’ve instilled that notion in all my team members,” he says.  

While he is grateful for all the love Fun Revolution TV has gotten, he believes it has a long way to go.