Stars of 2022 and beyond

Social Ketchup Ed, Mrinil Mathur Rajwani, chit chats with Krutika (@themermaidscale), Priyam (@priyamyonzon), Kushal (@thatkushalmistry), Divija (@awkwardgoat3), and Sahil (@saahellmusic) from 25 Under 25 Instagrammers list.

The official website of Pantone describes the color of 2022, 17-3938 Very Peri, as the one whose courageous presence encourages personal inventiveness and creativity. The color helps us embrace, exhibit, and resonate with the creative, inquisitive, and intriguing landscape of possibilities and cultivate a new vision to rewrite the future for ourselves. And so are the dynamic, vibrant young achievers on our cover this month, who are changing how we create and consume content in the future. 

Exploring infinite possibilities of creativity and innovation, under-mentioned cover stars have in no time carved a place for themselves in the hearts and minds of the Internet making them a must-follow on Instagram.

Instagram, as a part of their ‘We Are In The Making’ campaign that celebrates young people who are in the making, announced a list of 25 Under 25 Instagrammers of India. And we at Social Ketchup, a home for content creators, wanted to celebrate and encourage these trailblazers for the content they create, the community they nurture, and the mark they create for themselves each passing day with their sheer dedication and aim to touch the sky.

While we wanted to sit and chat with ALL of the 25 (maybe in the future), we have five of them sharing their story and their plans to take on the future. Krutika (@thhemermaidscale), Priyam (@priyamyonzon), Kushal (@kushalmistryofficial), Divija (@awkwardgoat3), and Sahil (@saahellmusic) grace the cover of January. 

And like I mentioned, they explore and challenge impossibilities each day, they very humbly and creatively challenge the hurdles of shooting the cover. Yes! The cover is a result of self-shot pictures that all five of the creators shared with us, aren’t they inventive? Content creation on Instagram has given a platform and enabled creative minds and young achievers to grow at an early age proving time and again, that age is no bar and the sky's the limit for content creators who have talent and passion. 

Krutika aka @themermaidscale - Krutika, with a following over 5.5 M, is entertaining everyone with her relatable funny content. She has always loved playing with makeup and experimenting with new things. She is an Anime, K-Drama, and Gaming fan. 

How did it all begin for you?

I was into art since childhood and always loved to draw things. It became more fun when I came across anime and started to draw those characters and their features. I learned more about makeup through the internet. Now I absolutely love playing with makeup and experimenting with new things which makes me happy. I started making funny content, which is related to my everyday life. Since then I’ve never been the same watching people’s reactions to my content always excites me.

How do you differentiate your content from others?

I stay true to my creativity and work on what comes from within. I refuse to compromise with the authenticity of my work! Maybe that’s what makes my content different from others. 

What according to you worked for you on Instagram?

All I do is experience situations firsthand and create scenarios in my mind while churning them out into small skits. The rest just works out, thanks to my loyal IG fam!

What is your long-term goal with content creation?

It’s always a challenge to find new content ideas, but it is really fun to ideate and to get to my process of putting together the entire video. The response from my IG fam is especially overwhelming, but this is what pushes me to do more every time! So, my goal, for now, is to just keep at it.

Do you think creating niche content helps in creating a mark for yourself?

Definitely! Having your own style for anything makes you stand out and gives you more perspective. Plus, it is fun to have your own take on everything.

How do you think that your content can make an impact on the way content will be created in the coming years?

My aim has always been to entertain my fam and I definitely want to make them smile more and more in the coming years.

Priyam Yonzon aka @priyamyonzon - Priyam Yonzon aka Priii is a digital creator who loves fashion! Anything and everything that they do, revolve in some way or the other around fashion!

How did it all begin for you?

Honestly, just like a normal person would open an Instagram account and start posting their best pictures! I kept doing that for a long time and then musical.ly aka Tik Tok happened and that helped me boost my profile and also can’t forget the people who supported me! Their encouragement led me into making more content and exploring more niches.

How do you differentiate your content from others?

I believe that every piece of content I created has a touch that says it’s mine, regardless of if there are another million people doing it. Creating content comes naturally to me and I can be my real authentic self in front of my audience.

What according to you has worked for you on IG?

CONSISTENCY and engaging for my audience. It was extremely tough to be recognized on Instagram before reels, now that there are Reels, I feel like that’s the most powerful “tool” on Instagram currently! 

I love getting to know my audience and engaging with them by going live or doing Q n A stories.

What is your long-term goal for creation? 

I’ve always been a person who always settles in for the last-minute plan and I’m here for whatever comes my way, hoping and working hard for the best!

Do you think creating niche content helps in creating a mark for yourself?

I mean everything that you post is a piece of content, but obviously, sometimes you need to put in extra work to make a mark out there, and honestly, it takes a lot of effort and creative energy when it comes to that. 

How do you think that your content can make an impact on the way content will be created in the coming years?

All I wanna do is entertain, experiment, and do better every time, with my content, if even one person can find a source of inspiration while viewing it to create content and express themselves; that would be truly ‘influencing’. I wish to let my profile be a positive, safe space for inspiration and hope my audience feels happy whenever they come across the content I create. 

How do you plan to take it in 2022? What are your plans for this year?

For Instagram, I want to be more organized and make up a better consistency while creating content because usually, I’m either doing 1000 things at once or none at all. Apart from this, I wish to explore more content formats and create better quality content, I also want to focus on building a community around my audience.

Kushal Mistry aka @thatkushalmistry - Kushal, a popular regional creator from Gujrat, with a computer engineering background, finds true passion in writing and telling stories. 

How did it all begin for you? 

I started creating short entertaining videos on Instagram back in 2016 after that I along with my team (Parth Parmar, Jatin Prajapati, Vijay Gurjar) who are also my friends since my Engineering days, became one of the top YouTube Channel “AMDAVADI MAN” in regional Gujarati language. And we have done some other projects in the entertainment industry too, that brought me into this. Also, I’ve been making reels since its launch in India. If I connect the dots then according to me life is a circle, I am able to follow my passion and do what I love, I owe it to Instagram as I posted one of my first videos in my career on the platform.

How do you differentiate your content from others? 

I have considered myself a creative person since childhood, and funny and entertaining content attracted me, and it became my stress buster during my days in engineering. I am not a funny person, I am an introvert and a private person, but I am good at writing ever since telling stories became my passion. I worked towards developing a sense of humor and enhancing my observational skills by consuming a lot of content available in every format, every language, and every genre from around the world. Also, when I was trying my hands-on editing, learning it by myself, I realized that I have a naturally good taste in BGM Scores. So, I think I can present my content in a better manner than others, I have the ability to come up with something different every time, so the freshness, the twist, and surprise elements are always there, and some out of the box creativity are cherry on the cake that makes my content unique and different from others.

What according to you worked for you on Instagram? 

I am a Regional (Gujarati) Language Dependent content creator, so my audience is limited at a point but by incorporating Instagram Trends I got exposure to showcase my creativity worldwide, I got a wider viewership and many of my videos were very well received. So, I realized that the language barrier is just a myth. If it's relatable, people will appreciate it from everywhere.

What is your long-term goal with content creation?

I just want to tell stories, it can be in any form, whether it’s in longer format or shorter format, I am learning every aspect of filmmaking by myself and experimenting with my content. In the long term I would like to explore other genres apart from comedy and want to give a complete package of emotions and experiences to my audience.

Do you think creating niche content helps in creating a mark for yourself? 

Yes, creating niche content helped me to get recognition from the entertainment industry, idol creators, and of course Instagram too, plus I am being offered valuable brand collaborations, I want to do branded stuff only where I am actually proud to showcase it to my audience, and eventually, I am getting at it.

How do you think that your content can make an impact on the way content will be created in the coming years?

I am not following any kind of patterns for creating my content, and creating what my audience wants is working out in my favor. But I want to experiment with this art of creating and discover new ways of storytelling so my content will impact in a certain way, by amazing people to think ‘this thing can be also told Like this’, also I am ready for the change of behavior in content creation in coming years, but I have my roots of originality and I have trust on myself that I will make something unique, relevant and creative every time.

How do you plan to take it in 2022? What are your plans for this year? 

I want to spread more positivity in 2022, and I want to have an impact on the society with my videos too, so  I would like to do more social awareness kind of videos in my comedy style, I have made a video in recent time about Public urination, I plan to cover more such topics and also I would like work towards breaking stereotypes about Gujju people, so many more experimentation on content is what I plan for this year. Also, I am doing some projects in Gujarati films too.

Divija Bhasin aka @awkwardgoat3 - Divija, a trained Counselling Psychologist calls herself the friendly neighborhood therapist who makes mental health content in a relatable and light-hearted manner, with an aim to raise awareness about proper professional treatment from qualified psychologists.

How did it all begin for you?

I started off making videos just for fun in the lockdown. I’m a very awkward and shy person and never thought I’d do this (I have become way more confident because of making content). I didn’t have any plans of being a content creator. It happened randomly and I just went with the flow. Instagram reels really helped me grow. Because the videos are short-form, I’m able to do things more creatively as compared to how I would present the same information in long-form content.

How do you differentiate your content from others? 

I think my content touches upon topics not many people make content about. I also try to keep it lighthearted, so it doesn’t get too heavy. I might have the “mental health” niche going but I enjoy stepping away from it and doing as I feel. Usually, I find that most people stick to their niche. 

What according to you worked for you on Instagram? 

I think using trends with a twist really works well. I’ve seen that when I give my opinion on trends or things that are popular at the moment, people really connect with it. 

What is your long-term goal with content creation?

I used to make all kinds of plans for my career but now I’m doing completely different stuff, so I don’t really think so much about long-term goals anymore. I’ve found that I’d rather work spontaneously but with short-term goals. For now - I’d like to start experimenting with different forms of content and not just stick to reels.  

Do you think creating niche content helps in creating a mark for yourself? 

Yes, it definitely helps, and people relate you to it. BUT I also think that you shouldn’t only make your niche-related content. Make what you want. Your audience follows you for your personality and for your niche. Don’t let your personality die out just cause you want to stick to your niche. I feel that a lot of people are scared of venturing out of their niche, but I think it’s better to not put yourself in a box. 

How do you think that your content can make an impact on the way content will be created in the coming years?

I think specifically for my content, I’d love to inspire more psychologists and psychology students to make content similar to mine. In my field, the content I see made by others is usually kind of preachy and boring. I would love to see more people talk about these topics in a fun way to reach the masses. I already see it happening with the newer generation of psychology students (on a very small scale but hopefully more people will do it). 

How do you plan to take it in 2022? What are your plans for this year?

I plan to work more on different formats of content and collaborate with more content creators. 

Sahil Nitin Magar aka @saahellmusic - A trained classical musician Sahil, is popularly known for his covers, mashups, and Hindi version songs. He went viral on Instagram with his Hindi version of Justin Bieber’s STAY with 45+ Million views on his Reel.

How did it all begin for you? 

It started for me when I was six years old. My father is a classical singer, and thus my parents wanted me to learn classical music too. Though I learned classical music properly when I was nine, I still practice classical music and haven’t left classical music ever since. I was performing as a child artist, doing stage shows and performances. I saw my father sing, and I got inspired and wanted to do something very similar. 

But, as I grew up, my voice changed, and people were not considering me as a child singer anymore, and that kind of upset me and threw me back. I wasn’t able to sing for a while for that reason, and I left singing for two years. But, when I turned eighteen, I got the courage to sing again, and I started off by uploading covers in the form of IGTV videos on Instagram in 2020. I didn’t initially receive a lot of traction, though this was before reels started booming. I didn’t have any traction at all at that time, as there was a lot of competition, and so many other people were doing the same kind of thing, which as a result, hid my talent. When reels came in, I started posting Hindi versions of English music. Once I was scrolling through YT, and I randomly stumbled upon one of these parody videos, where people were mocking another video, keeping the sense of the song, along with taste and feel. I created my first Hindi version in April, my first heartbreak anniversary version, which completely blew up, and right now, it has hit around 8M views. I guess that has been my biggest break as Sony music India contacted me. I started posting more and more Hindi versions, and I noticed them hitting numbers and becoming super big. Even though I was still posting usual covers, Hindi versions of mine brought out my talent and had around 40M views, and this came so randomly. 

How do you differentiate your content from others? 

Hindi versions of popular songs make my content stand out when there are so many people trying to do the same kind of content. This did make me stand out, but people were not taking it too seriously or noticing it. I feel like having your own content and personality is something very necessary. 

What according to you worked for you on Instagram? 

I guess the way I make my covers work for me. I just don't go and sit in front of the mic. I look after my aesthetics as well, because IG is a platform, where aesthetics play an important role. If something is lacking in my video in terms of the aesthetic, I don’t post that video, and that’s how I create my music and covers on IG. 

What is your long-term goal with content creation?

The reason I came on Instagram was that I wanted to create an audience for myself, in short, I wanted to have backing or support. My long-term goal is to be a complete artist, and put out my originals, go on tours, and perform. So if I have an audience and I'm putting out my own music, I want people to see it. If possible, I want to be India’s biggest music artist. 

Do you see yourself as a full-fledged content creator in the coming years? 

Yes, I do. I would like to continue and post on Instagram for as long as I can. In the future, I want to even compose for web series and sing for Bollywood too. 

Do you think creating niche content helps in creating a mark for yourself? 

I wouldn’t call myself a niche artist. As far as I know, everybody in the world listens to music. However, some people are a part of the niche music market who have songs because they want it out there. The music I make is for the mass public and a lot of people are not into niche categories. I make music for everyone. I like putting thought into what people like and what they don’t. For someone like me who is into music, it is difficult as you have to keep posting music. But what I feel is it’s your page just go ahead and do whatever you want without thinking about what people are going to say. 

How do you think that your content can make an impact on the way content will be created in the coming years?

I would say the time I was posting Hindi versions, it brought a lot of views. There are a lot of people who were ripping off the idea but I do think I really do have some kind of impact. New and upcoming creators do get inspired by me. Nowadays, for the creators, it’s about the video as well. Since 2020 there have been a lot of people who are listening to me and trying to do something similar, so I feel I have created some kind of an impact.

How do you plan to take it in 2022? What are your plans for this year?

2022 is totally going to be different. I’m not just going to create music on Instagram, but on a lot of other streaming platforms, we are making a band. I'm also collaborating with a lot of other musicians, aiming to have Live Events and performances. And most importantly, the year is going to be about my originals. 

Read the entire interview here!

Also Read: Instagram announces the 25 Under 25 Instagrammers of India

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