Three-panel still from an Indian Sidemen Tinder in Real Life video with captions 'are you retarded?', 'my contact info', and 'That easy huh?'

Indian Sidemen

2022viral videoclassic

Published October 23, 2026

Indian Sidemen, also known as Indian Tinder In Real Life, refers to desi recreations of the British YouTube group Sidemen's dating show format, where contestants deliver pickup lines to a line of women. Fukra Insaan and @cassiusclydepereira filmed their own versions starting in 2022, and by June 2023 TikTok reposts of these Indian editions were pulling millions of plays.

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Overview

Indian Sidemen, also called Indian Tinder In Real Life, is a format in which male Indian creators line up several women and try to charm them one by one with scripted lines, awkward flirting and desi-specific jokes before each woman decides to stay or walk off1. The setup copies the Sidemen's own show down to the standing lineup, the host's intro and the walk-away ending, but swaps in Hindi dialogue, references to aunties and arranged marriage, and city-specific humor from Mumbai and Delhi2.

Most clips that went viral were short reaction-friendly edits, a single contestant's attempt pulled out of a longer YouTube episode and set to a looping desi drill or Punjabi remix track3. TikTok users then stitched or quote-dueted these moments, laughing at the contestant's rizz or at the woman's deadpan rejection4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram and YouTube (viral spread on TikTok)
Creator
@cassiusclydepereira and Fukra Insaan
Date
2022

British group the Sidemen launched the original Tinder In Real Life series on June 9th, 2019, with an episode that gathered more than 44 million views in four years5. A follow-up filmed by the same group on February 7th, 2021 pushed past 77 million views6. Indian creators began adapting that premise in 2022, when Instagram creator @cassiusclydepereira posted his own Tinder IRL skit on April 24th, 2022, which drew more than 97,000 likes1.

The YouTube version arrived the next spring. Fukra Insaan uploaded "TINDER IN REAL LIFE || (INDIAN VERSION)" on April 9th, 2023, and the video collected over 7 million views within two months7. Six days later, on April 15th, Clout Chasers posted their own recreation, which hit around 300,000 views in the same window8.

How It Spread

After Fukra Insaan's April 2023 upload, clips started migrating onto TikTok within weeks7. On June 18th, 2023, TikToker @ziad_sultan reposted a cut from the Clout Chasers episode, and the clip gathered more than 2.6 million plays and around 260,000 likes inside a week9. The audio most commonly paired with these reposts was a drill remix of a Nooran Sisters track by producer Philemon, which gave the format its signature soundbed1.

Parody and reaction edits followed. On June 23rd, 2023, TikToker @67jai posted a video riffing on the "Indian Sidemen" tag that pulled over 1 million plays and 260,000 likes in a week10. Other TikTok accounts including @m0nk34 and @uraverageclips circulated additional cuts through late June 20231112, and more YouTubers published their own desi Tinder IRL episodes to ride the attention3.

Timeline

2019-06-09

The Sidemen upload the original Tinder In Real Life video on YouTube, establishing the format later copied by Indian creators.

2022-04-24

Instagram creator @cassiusclydepereira posts an early desi Tinder IRL skit, the first widely shared Indian version.

2023-04-09

Fukra Insaan uploads "TINDER IN REAL LIFE || (INDIAN VERSION)" to YouTube, which reaches over 7 million views in two months.

2023-04-15

Clout Chasers posts a competing Indian Tinder IRL episode on YouTube.

2023-06-18

TikToker @ziad_sultan reposts a cut from Clout Chasers, hitting 2.6 million plays in a week and igniting the TikTok wave.

2023-06-23

TikToker @67jai posts a parody tagged "Indian Sidemen," collecting over 1 million plays in a week.

How to Use This Meme

A typical Indian Sidemen clip isolates one contestant's pickup attempt, often the most cringe or confident line, and loops the woman's reaction. Creators commonly caption these edits with a one-word verdict such as "rizz" or "cooked" and layer a desi drill remix on top. Reposts often add a reaction cam of the uploader laughing or stitching their own hypothetical response.

Frequently Asked Questions