Dhruv Rathee
Dhruv Rathee | |
|---|---|
Rathee in 2019 | |
| Born | 8 October 1994 Rohtak, Haryana, India |
| Education | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (BSc, MSc) |
| Occupations | |
| Spouse |
Juli Lbr (m. 2021) |
| Children | 1 |
| YouTube information | |
| Channels | |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Genres | |
| Subscribers | 31.2 million (main channel) 39.1 million (combined)[a] |
| Views | 5.22 billion (main channel) 6.06 billion (combined)[b] |
| Last updated: 22 February 2026 | |
| Website | dhruvrathee.com |
Dhruv Rathee (born 8 October 1994, Hindi pronunciation: [d̪ʰrʊʋ raːʈʰiː]) is an Indian influencer and social media activist based in Berlin, Germany. He is known for his YouTube videos on social, political, and environmental issues. As of June 2025, he has over 36 million subscribers and 7 billion views across all of his channels.
Early life and education
Dhruv Rathee was born on 8 October 1994 to a Haryanvi Hindu family in the Indian state of Haryana. He completed his primary education in Haryana before pursuing higher education in Germany, completing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in renewable energy from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.[2][3]
Career
Rathee is mainly known for his political videos,[4] which mainly contain fact-checking and explanatory content.[5] According to ThePrint, Rathee was one of the first Indian users to use YouTube as a political platform. He began uploading travel videos in 2013, but by the end of the year, he shifted his focus towards political and social topics.[6]
Alongside his serious content, Rathee launched Pee News, a satirical "fake news" segment.[7] Additionally, from 2017 until early 2020, Rathee wrote opinion columns for ThePrint.[8]
In July 2020, Rathee began another YouTube channel called Dhruv Rathee Vlogs, where he shares his international travel vlogs. In addition to his vlogs, Rathee hosts various shows, including DW Travel of Deutsche Welle and Decode with Dhruv of Netflix India.[9] He also hosts a podcast on Spotify called Maha Bharat with Dhruv Rathee.[10]
As of February 2022, Rathee has a YouTube Shorts channel to share 30-seconds fact videos, offering a quick and accessible way for viewers to engage with the information he presents.[11] On 18 April 2024, Rathee announced five new YouTube channels focusing on publishing dubbed videos in five Indian regional languages: Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, and Kannada.[12]
In 2023, Rathee was included in Time's list of Next Generation Leaders.[13][14]
In September 2022, he faced controversy when a video he posted about Pakistan's political crisis was blocked by India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for including a map of India that does not align with India's national position on Kashmir.[15] Following the 2025 Pahalgam attack, Rathee was the subject of backlash when Pakistani news channels aired clips of his video which criticized the Indian government's security failures; Rathee claimed that the clips were misused.[16]
In March 2023, Rathee faced copyright charges from Dabur on his video titled "The dark-side of cold drinks". The Calcutta High Court ordered social media platforms to remove the video.[17]
In May 2025, Rathee faced controversy from the Sikh community for posting an AI-generated thumbnail in a new video, titled "The Rise of Sikhs", which primarily focused on the first Sikh ruler, Banda Singh Bahadur. The video received widespread condemnation from the Sikh community, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President, for depicting AI-generated visuals of the Sikh gurus. Following the backlash, Rathee removed the video from his YouTube channel.[18]
Personal life
Rathee is a resident of Germany. In November 2021, Rathee married his long-time partner Juli Lbr at the Belvedere Palace, in Vienna, Austria.[19] Their first child was born in September 2024.[20][21]
Notes
References
- ^ "The Year Indian Comedians Took Politics Seriously". The Wire. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "'Persistence and patience are the hallmarks of success': YouTuber Dhruv Rathee". The New Indian Express. 6 June 2020. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ "From 'practising Hindu atheist' to 'All Lives Matter': Who exactly is Dhruv Rathee?". Free Press Journal. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "The Year Indian Comedians Took Politics Seriously". The Wire. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ Rajvanshi, Astha (5 October 2023). "Fact-Checking Indian Media Is Tough. Dhruv Rathee Uses Youtube to Do It". TIME. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Who Is YouTuber Dhruv Rathee? Indian Creator's Net Worth Is Rs 27 crore, Takes Home Rs 48 Lakh Every Month". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Ghosh, Devarsi (16 May 2018). "Meet Dhruv Rathee, the 23-year-old YouTuber whose videos are infuriating Modi's admirers". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Dhruv Rathee, Author at ThePrint". ThePrint. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Money Heist: Dhruv Rathee decodes Netflix's 'Spanish Masala Blockbuster'". The Indian Express. 31 October 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "YouTuber Dhruv Rathee Talks About Entering Into Audio Space, Says 'Podcasts Have Small But Dedicated Audience' - Exclusive". News18. 9 November 2022. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Dhruv Rathee Shorts". Social Blade. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ Staff, T. N. M. (4 April 2024). "Dhruv Rathee starts YouTube channels in five languages including Tamil, Telugu and Kannada". The News Minute. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Anand, Nisha (6 October 2023). "Dhruv Rathee among TIME Magazine's 'next generation leaders 2023'; YouTuber reacts". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Rajvanshi, Astha (5 October 2023). "Fact-Checking Indian Media Is Tough. Dhruv Rathee Uses Youtube to Do It". TIME. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Quint, The (26 September 2022). "Govt Removes 45 YouTube Videos, Including Dhruv Rathee's, For Spreading 'Lies'". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Mukhopadhyay, Sounak (10 May 2025). "Dhruv Rathee accuses Pakistani channels of misusing his 'clips', slams influencer for calling him out | Mint". mint. Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
- ^ "Calcutta HC orders social media platforms to take down video of Dhruv Rathee mocking Real fruit juice". DNA India. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "YouTuber Dhruv Rathee takes down video on Sikh history after objections". The Times of India. 19 May 2025 – via The Indian Express.
- ^ "Love Across Borders: Indian YouTuber Dhruv Rathee Marries German Girlfriend Juli at Vienna". News18. 28 November 2021. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Dhruv Rathee announces birth of first child with sweet photos; fans celebrate new arrival". The Economic Times. 21 September 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ दुबे, स्नेहा (21 September 2024). फेमस यूट्यूबर ध्रुव राठी बने पापा, शेयर की बेबी बॉय की प्यारी सी तस्वीर (in Hindi). Retrieved 21 September 2024.