"I enjoyed watching pranks on YouTube and realized that there weren't many Nepali pranks. That's when I decided to start one, and here we are now," shares Aakash Sedai, who is one of the founders of NepaliPranksters.NepaliPranksters began in 2013 and a year later, it was officially registered as a company. Apart from Aakash, the team comprises of his school friends, Ganesh Magar, 24 and Manish Dahal, 21. A girl is very soon joining the team, too.
NepaliPranksters upload at least three videos every month. Till date, they have 74 videos in their channel, over 34,000 subscribers, over 8 million total views, and thousands of uplifting comments from Nepalis all over the world—which, Aakash ensures, the team regularly reads. "We also try to address our viewers' demands and plan a prank based on their suggestions," he says.
"We designed the scary axe prank after our friends and viewers on YouTube demanded for such kind of prank. People have also been asking us to carry out a 'night time' scary prank. We're planning to execute that soon," shares the 21-year-old prankster.
/>Nevertheless, playing a practical joke on random people is also a risky business. While there are people who are easily offended, there are others who aren't convinced that it's just a joke. More often than not, people ask the pranksters to delete the footage, which they are obliged to comply, says Aakash.
In one instance, Aakash was even taken to the police station for allegedly extorting someone's mobile phone while making the video 'Hisab Barabar.'
"Thankfully, the inspector had read about us in a magazine, so we didn't have to do much to explain ourselves. But every time we set off to shoot videos, we make sure we have the supporting documents to prove ourselves," he shares.
In a similar situation, Aakash remembers getting really scared when one person nearly had a heart attack after being chased with an axe in the 'Epic Scary Axe Prank in Nepal.
Apart from pranks, NepaliPranksters also produce social experiment videos through which they aim to explore different issues within the country and people's attitude towards everyday situations. However, the pranksters clarify that these videos only depict a certain population and aren't meant to be generalized.
One thing that keeps this group of pranksters going is that playing pranks on unsuspecting passersby is also generating them money. After their phase of initial struggle with money, their videos have started generating money via Google AdSense. They also accept sponsorship from local business houses.
As for the future, the team plans to make NepaliPranksters even bigger. "Besides making prank videos, we also want to conduct more social experiments and even expand to making short story videos. Plus, expect even scarier sequels to the axe and bomb prank really soon," Aakash shares.
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