In the age of Twitter and Facebook, stars can be made overnight. Here are half a dozen Indians who shot into the limelight in 2018 thanks to social media:
1) In the wink of an eye, Thrissur girl Priya Prakash Varrier shot to superstardom. Varrier earned millions of fans after a 30-second video clip from a song in her debut Malayalam film 'Oru Adaar Love' surfaced online. In just two weeks, her Instagram followers climbed to over 4.5 million and she was named as Google’s most-searched celebrity in 2018.
2) Somvati Mahawar became the talk of the town with her video offering a cup of tea saying, “Hello friends, chai pi lo”. Not only chai, Mahawar even offers watermelons and mangoes to eat. She often shares her latest purchases and even seeks the opinions of her fans. She has uploaded over 400 videos, of which several went viral. She has over 28,000 followers.
3) Rakesh Unni, a daily wage labourer, rose to fame overnight after a video of him singing ‘Unnai Kaanadhu’ from the movie 'Vishwaroopam' went viral. The video impressed everyone including playback singer Shankar Mahadevan who tweeted about it. Unni's song on a work break landed him an opportunity to meet actor Kamal Haasan, with the Ulaganayagan promising to offer him a chance in his upcoming film.
4) The 'dancer uncle', Sanjeev Shrivastava, from Madhya Pradesh, became famous overnight after a video of him shaking a leg to “Aap Ke Aa Jane Se” from the 1987 film “Khudgarz” went viral. The video was shot during the sangeet at his brother-in-law’s wedding ceremony in Gwalior. After viewing the dance moves by Shrivastava on social media, everyone from politician to actors became a fan of him.
5) Hanan Hamid, a student from Kerala, caught the eye after images of her selling fish to support her education surfaced online. However, she faced a severe backlash for selling fish in her college uniform, with several social media users questioning her intentions. While some poked fun at her, others were abusive. Controversies aside, the news reached Kerala CM Pinaryi Vijayan who invited her to his office. Vijayan not only praised and encouraged the 21-year-old but also chided the trolls and said that we should support the young girl. Hamid hit the news once again when she donated Rs 1 lakh from her own savings to the Kerala flood victims.
6) When Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan posted a picture with his fans at Symbiosis on his official Facebook page, all hell broke loose. It was not because of him that the photo went viral, but thanks to a woman standing in the front row who was referred to as the "olive top girl". It was later revealed that she was Saima Hussain Mir, 22, a Kashmiri studying communication design at the institute.
