Diary of a Bad Man is a Britishcomedydramaweb series that premiered on 6 September 2010 and ended on 10 October 2013. The series was created by Humza Arshad and consists of continuous episodes uploaded on his YouTube channel HumzaProductions, revolving around the life of a young man and his relationships with his friends and family. In 2011, the fifth episode was the seventh most viewed video on YouTube in the UK. As of 2012, HumzaProductions had exceeded over 40 million views.
Premise
The name draws itself from Nikolai Gogol's short storyDiary of a Madman. The series follows a fictionalised portrayal of Arshad consisting of video diaries chronicling the life of a self-styled "Badman with seriously good looks" as an exaggerated stereotype of an Asian youth in today's society, who is also a "troubled young man with the mentality of a seven-year-old... whose adventures don't shy away from controversy". Arshad's webcam monologues and sketches touches on impressing girls, arranged marriage, racism, attitudes to women, relationship with his parents, his extended family and his friends. Badman is a dim-witted, stereotypical young guy in today's society who does wrong, makes mistakes, has no respect for anyone and gets into trouble. However, as each episode unfolds he slowly starts to learn from his experiences and improve on his flaws and character. The episodes are predominantly in English, but Arshad also uses Punjabi and Urdu phrases.
Production
The series is written, directed, edited and produced by Arshad. The supporting cast features his friends and occasional celebrity guests. The episodes are shot in and around South London, filmed using a Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 and edited using Apple’s iMovie. The series theme tune is "Three Pointer" from the iMovie Music Directory. The advert for season two featured guest appearances from Richard Blackwood and Muhammad Shahid Nazir. The scenes in Arshad's father's shop Bubblegum Children's Wear are filmed in Thornton Heath, Croydon.
Cast and characters
Main
Humza Arshad as Humza : Main character of the series and narrates the story in each episode.
Humza Arshad also as Mr Arshad : The father of Humza who owns a shop called Bubblegum.
Mohammed Umar Baig as Umar: Humza's best friend who has betrayed Humza a few times during the first season and he is often ridiculed for being overweight.
Asif Hussain as Asif: Humza's enemy turned friend.
Jaspal Kerrah as Dexter: Humza's friend who is constantly insulted for being dopey.
Yogesh Kalia as Agent Kalia: A secret agent who works for the P.I.A who he claims is a less intelligent version of the C.I.A. He initially met Humza during his search for Jazzie who had been kidnapped.
Jazzie Zonzolo as Jazzie: Humza's friend who is shown to be vain and claims to be half-Asian.
The Guardian called the series "a satirical take on British Asian culture, with a twist: the videos all end with a moral message." The Huffington Post reported that the series "defy simple labels" and that episodes "begin with a superficial obsession end with a moral lesson." Arshad has also received criticism for jokes, which have offended Muslims. In the second season, he made an effort to moderate some of the jokes. To avoid offending people he has also neglected much of the Islamic elements, which formed a major part of the first season. Islamic activist Muhammad Abdul Jabbar called the series disrespectful to Islam.
