Arun Srikanth Mashettey: Biography, Age, Height, Career, Net Worth, Family & More

Arun Srikanth Mashettey is a Hyderabad-based YouTuber, gaming content creator, and reality television personality, best known for his channel Achanak Bayanak Gaming and for finishing as a finalist on Bigg Boss 17, the Hindi-language reality show hosted by Salman Khan. Popularly called "Arun Bhai" by his fans and sometimes nicknamed the "Prince of Charminar" for his Hyderabadi roots, Arun built his online following through livestreamed gaming sessions, viral Omegle chat videos where he interacted with strangers around the world, and light-hearted comedy content shot alongside his wife, Malak Mashettey.

His story resonated with a wide audience for a reason beyond gaming: Arun has spoken openly about losing his father during the COVID-19 pandemic, the depression that followed, and how a friend's suggestion to start making gaming videos became an unlikely turning point in his life. That journey — from personal grief to a six-figure YouTube following to a spot among the top five finalists of one of India's biggest reality shows — is central to why he remains a recognisable name in India's digital creator space.

This article covers his early life, education, YouTube career, Bigg Boss 17 run, family life, net worth, controversies, and the most frequently asked questions about him — with source conflicts noted transparently wherever public reporting disagrees.

Quick Facts: Arun Srikanth Mashettey Infobox

Early Life and Background

Arun Srikanth Mashettey was born on 23 October 1988 in Hyderabad, Telangana, and has lived in the city for most of his life — a connection that fans later turned into his affectionate nickname, the "Prince of Charminar," referencing Hyderabad's most iconic landmark. Multiple entertainment and reality-TV profile sites report this birth date and city consistently, though at least one low-reliability listing gives a different birth year; given the weight of corroborating sources, 1988 is treated as the more credible figure in this article.

Little verified detail exists about Arun's childhood, upbringing, or personality as a young boy — a gap common to creators who become famous as adults rather than through early public exposure. What is consistently reported is that Arun grew up in a business-oriented Hyderabadi family and, for a significant part of his adult life before YouTube, was expected to eventually take over aspects of the family's business rather than pursue content creation.

The most defining early-life event that shaped his public career, however, came much later: the death of his father during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Several entertainment outlets and Bigg Boss profile pages report that Arun went through a period of depression after this loss, and that a close friend encouraged him to start recording gaming videos as a way to cope and channel his energy elsewhere. That suggestion — offered informally, not as a career plan — became the origin point of "Achanak Bayanak Gaming."

Beyond this, claims about his father's specific profession, his mother, and any siblings vary significantly between low-authority fan sites and are not corroborated by reliable, independent reporting. In keeping with an accuracy-first approach, this article does not present those unverified specifics as established fact.

Education

Public information about Arun's formal education is thin and inconsistently reported. A small number of fan-biography sites name a specific Hyderabad school, but this detail could not be verified through reliable, independent sourcing, so it is presented here only as an unconfirmed claim rather than a fact. No dependable source lists a confirmed college, university, or degree for him. Some accounts mention he considered further studies (an MBA is mentioned in a few low-authority write-ups) but ultimately moved toward the family business and, later, content creation instead — this detail, too, should be read as unverified.

What can be said with more confidence is that Arun did not follow a conventional "influencer" education path — he did not train formally in gaming, broadcasting, or media production. His skills as a livestreamer, comedic personality, and on-camera presence appear to have developed organically through years of daily content creation rather than formal coursework.

Career Journey

The Beginning: From Grief to Gaming

Arun's career as a content creator effectively began in 2020, in the aftermath of his father's death during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to multiple entertainment profiles, he was dealing with depression when a friend suggested he try making gaming videos — an outlet that had nothing to do with the family business he had been expected to continue. He started livestreaming himself playing games, particularly titles like PUBG, and built a channel he called Achanak Bayanak Gaming ("Achanak Bayanak" translates loosely to "suddenly terrible/frightening" in Hindi, a self-deprecating, comic branding choice that matched his on-camera personality).

Building an Audience

Rather than sticking purely to gameplay commentary, Arun diversified his content early. Alongside gaming livestreams, he became known for:

• Omegle chat videos, where he had spontaneous, often comedic conversations with strangers from around the world on the (now-discontinued) video chat platform.
• Couple/vlog-style comedy videos featuring his wife, Malak, playing on their real-life banter and cultural differences (Malak was born in Paris, France).
• Prank and reaction content, in a candid, unscripted Hyderabadi comic style that became his signature.

His subscriber count grew steadily rather than explosively in the first two years. Reports place the channel at around 200,000 subscribers by 2022, climbing to roughly 290,000–300,000 subscribers by late 2023, right around the time he entered Bigg Boss 17. Post-Bigg Boss, his numbers grew considerably faster: some profile sites report the channel crossing 600,000-plus subscribers, and at least one source claims it surpassed 1 million subscribers by 2024–2025. Given the inconsistency between sources on the exact current figure, readers should treat any single number as an approximation rather than a verified statistic, since YouTube subscriber counts also change continuously.

Reality TV Breakthrough: Bigg Boss 17

Arun's YouTube profile earned him a spot as one of a handful of digital-first influencers cast on Bigg Boss 17 in October 2023 — a significant step up in visibility, taking him from a mid-sized YouTube following to national television recognition. His Bigg Boss run (detailed in the next section) transformed him from a regional gaming YouTuber into a recognised pan-India reality TV personality, and remains the single most searched and reported chapter of his public life.

Life After Bigg Boss

Following his elimination from the finale in January 2024, Arun spoke publicly about his plans to expand his career beyond Hyderabad, including shifting base to Mumbai to pursue new entertainment projects and brand opportunities that opened up because of his Bigg Boss exposure. He has continued to post gaming and vlog content on his YouTube channel and remained highly active on Instagram, where his family content — particularly updates about his wife and daughters — now draws as much engagement as his gaming videos.

Bigg Boss 17 Journey

Arun Srikanth Mashettey entered the Bigg Boss house in October 2023 as one of the original contestants of Bigg Boss 17, hosted by Salman Khan on Colors TV. He was among a small cohort of YouTube-first influencers on the season, alongside other digital creators, and was noted early on for his emotional honesty, an unpretentious Hyderabadi personality, and his willingness to speak candidly about his family, including the loss of his father and his wife's miscarriage.

Key points of his journey inside the house:

• He won the immunity task in Week 9, protecting himself from nominations during that week — one of the clearer competitive milestones of his run.
• During the show's "Family Week" episode, his wife Malak appeared and disclosed, on national television, that she had suffered a miscarriage while Arun was in the house — a moment that visibly moved him to tears and became one of the most talked-about emotional beats of the season.
• He was one of the four contestants (along with Munawar Faruqui, Abhishek Kumar, and Mannara Chopra) whose strategic alliance secured their places among the finalists ahead of the grand finale.
• Arun reached the grand finale on 28 January 2024 as one of the top five finalists, alongside Munawar Faruqui, Abhishek Kumar, Mannara Chopra, and Ankita Lokhande.
• He was the first contestant eliminated during the finale night, finishing in fifth place. Munawar Faruqui was declared the winner, with Abhishek Kumar as runner-up, Mannara Chopra in third, and Ankita Lokhande in fourth.

Even without winning, Arun's Bigg Boss run is widely credited by entertainment media with substantially expanding his fan base, his social media following, and his opportunities as a content creator and public personality outside Hyderabad.

Social Media Presence

Arun's digital footprint centres on three platforms:

• YouTube (Achanak Bayanak Gaming): His original and primary platform, featuring gaming livestreams, Omegle chat compilations, and vlogs. Subscriber estimates vary by source and date, ranging from roughly 290,000 (late 2023) to over 600,000–1 million-plus in more recent reporting.
• Instagram: Arun is highly active here, posting reels that blend comedy, family content, and glimpses of his life with Malak and their daughters. Follower estimates across sources vary widely — from the mid-hundred-thousands to over 2 million — reflecting rapid post-Bigg Boss growth as well as inconsistent reporting dates; a precise, verified current figure could not be independently confirmed.
• Facebook: He maintains a presence here as well, primarily mirroring content from his other platforms.

Brand collaborations and paid partnerships are not extensively documented in reliable public reporting, though his post-Bigg Boss interviews reference "new projects" and a shift toward more commercial entertainment work.

Physical Appearance

Arun is often described in fan and entertainment coverage as having a well-built frame, a full beard, and a casual, unpolished personal style that matches his humorous on-camera persona rather than a curated "influencer" look. He has been photographed smoking cigarettes and hookah on various occasions, a detail some profile sites mention as part of his candid, unfiltered public image.

Reported height figures cluster around 5 ft 11 in (approximately 180 cm), though this figure comes from lower-authority celebrity-profile sites and has not been confirmed through any official or verified source. Weight, eye colour, and other specific physical measurements are not reliably documented anywhere in public reporting and are best treated as unknown rather than guessed at.

His fashion sense on Bigg Boss and in his vlogs leaned toward casual streetwear and traditional wear for religious occasions (such as the white thobe seen in his widely discussed "Jummah special" video), rather than high-fashion or designer branding.

Net Worth

Arun Srikanth Mashettey's net worth is one of the more contested data points in his public profile, and he has personally pushed back against widely circulated figures.

Several fan and entertainment sites, during and shortly after his Bigg Boss 17 run, estimated his net worth at around ₹5 crore (roughly $600,000), while at least one other estimate placed it closer to ₹20 crore (around $2.5 million). However, in a February 2024 interview on the YouTube show "Long Drive with @MrFaisu" (hosted by fellow Bigg Boss alum Faisal Shaikh), Arun directly addressed the ₹5 crore figure being circulated by media outlets, saying there was money to be made in gaming but that the specific figure being quoted was incorrect. When pressed on whether his actual net worth was higher, he neither confirmed nor denied it, responding only that there was "not much" but whatever it was, he was grateful for it ("Alhamdulillah").

Given this direct, on-record denial from Arun himself, this article does not present any single net-worth figure as confirmed. What can be reported with more confidence are his likely income sources:

Net Worth Breakdown (Estimated Income Sources)

No reliable public source documents specific cars, real estate, or investment holdings attributed to Arun, so this article does not speculate on a "luxury lifestyle" breakdown beyond what has been confirmed above.

Family and Relationships

Parents

Arun's father passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, an event Arun has spoken about publicly as a major turning point that led him toward content creation. Beyond this, verified, consistent details about his parents are limited in reliable reporting, and this article avoids repeating specific names or business details that appear only in low-authority, inconsistently written sources.

Siblings

Claims about siblings appear in a small number of lower-reliability sources but are not corroborated elsewhere, so they are not presented as confirmed fact here.

Marriage

Arun married Malak Mashettey on 15 March 2021. Malak was born in Paris, France, and settled into life in Hyderabad after their marriage; several reports describe the marriage as having been arranged through family connections. The couple frequently appears together in comedy and vlog-style content, and their real-life chemistry — including playful teasing in videos — became a signature part of Arun's channel.

Children

The couple has two daughters. Their first daughter was born on 4 March 2022; her name is reported inconsistently across sources — some outlets refer to her as "Jury," while others report "Zuri." Because reputable entertainment sites are genuinely split on this detail, this article flags it as an open discrepancy rather than picking one version.

During Bigg Boss 17's "Family Week" segment, Malak revealed on national television that she had suffered a miscarriage around Diwali 2023, while Arun was inside the house — a moment that visibly affected him. The couple later announced a second pregnancy in mid-2025, and welcomed their second daughter, Elina Mashettey, in late September 2025, during the Navratri festival period. Arun shared the birth on Instagram with a video documenting Malak's hospital stay, captioned "Welcome to the family, Elina Mashettey."

Dating History and Close Friends

No verified dating history exists for Arun prior to his marriage to Malak in reliable public reporting. During his time on Bigg Boss 17, he formed a notable friendship with fellow contestant Tehelka (Sunil Sharma), referring to him as a "brother" upon his own eviction from the finale.

Controversies

Arun's public profile has been largely free of major, sustained controversy, but one incident drew notable backlash:

The "Jummah Special" Namaz video (November 2024): Arun posted an Instagram reel dressed in a traditional white thobe, shown offering Namaz while his wife jokingly interrupted him with a teasing question in the background, played for comic effect as part of the couple's recurring husband-wife content format. A segment of viewers criticised the video as disrespectful toward the act of prayer (Salah), arguing that using Namaz as a backdrop for comedic content was inappropriate. Others defended Arun, noting that he had consistently celebrated and documented both Ramadan and Bakrid on his channel, framing him as someone promoting religious sincerity and interfaith goodwill rather than mockery. Arun did not appear to face any formal consequences from the episode, and it did not develop into a sustained controversy beyond a wave of social media comments at the time.

No other major public controversies — legal, professional, or personal — are documented in reliable reporting about Arun as of this writing.

Achievements and Milestones

Arun's public achievements are primarily tied to his digital career and reality television run rather than formal awards:

No formal industry awards (such as creator awards or entertainment industry honours) are documented for Arun in reliable public sources as of this writing.

Interesting Facts About Arun Srikanth Mashettey

• His channel name, "Achanak Bayanak," is a playful Hindi phrase roughly meaning "suddenly terrible" or "suddenly frightening" — a self-deprecating, comic brand rather than a literal description.
• Fans nicknamed him the "Prince of Charminar" in reference to his strong Hyderabadi identity.
• He started his YouTube journey not as a planned career move but as a coping mechanism after his father's death during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• His wife, Malak, was born in Paris, France, giving their family content a distinct multicultural flavour that fans frequently comment on.
• He won the immunity task in Week 9 of Bigg Boss 17, one of his clearest strategic wins inside the house.
• He was the first finalist eliminated during the Bigg Boss 17 grand finale night, finishing fifth.
• He has been open on camera about smoking cigarettes and hookah, part of his unfiltered public persona.
• He publicly denied a widely circulated ₹5 crore net-worth estimate in a 2024 interview, without confirming an alternative figure.
• He and Malak welcomed their second daughter, Elina, during the Navratri festival in September 2025.

Career and Life Timeline

Public Image and Legacy

Arun Srikanth Mashettey's public image is built less on polish and more on relatability. Unlike many mainstream television or film celebrities, his appeal rests on being seen as candid, emotionally open, and unafraid to discuss difficult personal experiences — his father's death, his depression, his wife's miscarriage — on camera and in interviews. That honesty, paired with his easygoing Hyderabadi humour, is frequently cited by entertainment commentators as the reason his Bigg Boss 17 run resonated with audiences even though he did not win.

His legacy, at this stage of his career, is best understood as part of a broader wave of India's YouTube-first personalities who used reality television as a springboard to national visibility, rather than the reverse. For a segment of fans, particularly in Hyderabad and the broader Telugu-speaking digital audience, he remains a recognisable, locally rooted creator whose family content continues to drive engagement well after his television appearance ended.

Latest News and Current Status

As of the most recent available reporting, Arun continues to be active as a content creator, regularly posting gaming livestreams and family-oriented reels featuring his wife Malak and daughters. The couple's September 2025 announcement of their second daughter, Elina, generated significant coverage across entertainment and lifestyle outlets, reinforcing that family content remains a major pillar of his online presence alongside gaming. No major new television, film, or brand ventures beyond his existing YouTube and Instagram activity are documented in reliable reporting as of this writing.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Editorial note: Several biographical details about Arun Srikanth Mashettey — including his exact height, his parents' and siblings' details, his elder daughter's name, precise current follower counts, and his net worth — are reported inconsistently or not at all across reliable public sources. Where this is the case, this article has flagged the discrepancy or marked the field as unconfirmed rather than presenting an unverified figure as fact.