Why Priya Prakash and Sapna Choudhary are more searched on Google than Priyanka Chopra
Regional stars are rising and how!
It’s apparently unbelievable that debutant Malayalam actor Priya Prakash Varrier, or Haryana’s salwar-clad Sapna Choudhary, who dances amid raining notes, are more famous than Priyanka Chopra or Salman Khan in India.
But, if our online search history is something to go by (though we clear our browser history, Google is watching), then they are the people we are actually more interested in. Be it their girl-next-door appeal, or lack of celebrity aura, or our unlimited WiFi — they are what Indians are curious about.
Forget Ranveer-Deepika's wedding, Bollywood’s #MeToo movement or other things that we connoisseurs thought the year 2018 should be ideally remembered for in the entertainment sector.
Priya Prakash Varrier, who has topped the charts for the most searched person 2018, was the girl whose wink swept the country off its feet early this year, though the movie Oru Adaar Love has not yet released, and we won’t be able to see whether Varrier manages to live up to the expectations until February 14, 2019, when the movie releases.
The 18-year-old is still a student, pursuing her B.Com in Vimala College in Thrissur, but people are interested to know whether Priya Prakash is Hindu, whether she is Ashish Vidyarthi’s daughter (she is not), etc.
Unlike Varrier, Sapna Choudhary is not a newcomer. She has been there for quite a few years and her short stint in Bigg Boss has made her more popular. But, despite her break in television, Sapna didn’t harbour much of Bollywood ambition, because she clearly knows that she doesn’t fit into the Mumbai definition of ‘entertainment’.
So, she pursued what brought her fame and what she is comfortable in — events, performances, YouTube videos — where she can speak in Haryanvi, can wear her not-so-posh but gaudy salwar suit, can keep her hair plaited and can twirl and twist without being snootily judged.
Her videos and their lack of aesthetics may shock you, but they don’t shock the swelling crowd around her — visible in most of her videos —enjoying her not-so-sanskari pelvic thrusts in an utterly sanskari attire.
She made an unremakable Bollywood debut with an item number in Veerey Ki Wedding (no, not Veere di Wedding) and is commendably high-spirited, despite being looked down upon by Bollywood item standard.
Like the name of her songs, Solid Body, Gora Gora, Bahu Zamindar ki, Rate Vade Ge, et al, the questions that people ask Google about Sapna are strange — whether Sapna is married or not, whether she is dead, etc.
(The last question stems from the fact that she tried to commit suicide after she was accused of insulting a particular caste through a song).
Between Priya and Sapna, the second most googled person in India was Nick Jonas.
Clearly, we Indians woke up pretty late to the Jonas Brothers (pop band 2005-2013) and got curious about Nick — only after he got engaged to Priyanka Chopra — who happens to be the fourth most searched celebrity on Google.
Anand Ahuja has no reason to be on this chart — he is not an entertainment personality. But the trends reveal that like a big family patriarch, we want to know all about the men our Bollywood ladies are getting married to. So, we searched about Anand Ahuja, a fashion entrepreneur and also Sonam Kapoor's husband — and we searched so much about him that he became the fifth most seached person, while Sonam Kapoor is not even there on the list!
Instead, following Ahuja, there are Sara Ali Khan, Salman Khan, Meghan Markle, Anup Jalota and Boney Kapoor.
Interestingly, Sunny Leone, who used to be the most searched person a few years ago, is not there. We can understand why Taimur is not there as the two-year-old (soon-to-be) doesn't have much details to offer us, apart from his photos.
So yes, Bollywood is majorly there.
But Priya Prakash and Sapna prove that Internet has been able to deliver a blow to Bollywood's monopoly in entertainment.
Regional stars are rising and how!