She is MostlySane. Witty and charmingly simple, India’s favourite YouTuber and blogger has a wild following of over 7M on her YouTube channel and 8M on Instagram: Prajakta Koli carries that nextdoor-girl verve with elan, nailing it through her consistently amusing posts, videos, and reels.
Prajakta has interviewed a circle of celebrities in Bill Gates, Priyanka Chopra, Michelle Obama… is an active philanthropist, and
has netted in notable performances in films. Her reprisal of Ginny Saini in KJo’s mega production JugJugg Jeeyo won her cool attention, as did her role play of Dimple Ahuja in the Netflix series Mismatched, and in Vidya
Balan’s film, Neeyat, where she played the role of Gigi. She is one of the few influencers from India to have collaborated with icons,
including Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Jason Derülo, Greta Thunberg, Susan Wojcicki, Yohan Blake, Russell Peters, Jennifer Aniston, and Adam Sandler.
A Daytime Emmy Award winner, Prajakta Koli is a multifaceted artist: an influencer, vlogger, activist, author and actor, powering one of
India’s biggest female-run comedy channels on YouTube.
Petite and powerful, she has leveraged her celebrity wattage to push education for girls. In 2016, Prajakta aligned with YouTube’s Creators
For Change initiative, to create the music video ‘Shameless’. She took a public stance, calling out unhappy, shallow standards of beauty
that women are subjected to in the country. Her creation ‘No Offence’ in 2018 showed online trollers their place, for spreading hate
on social media–and was screened at the UN headquarters on International Tolerance Day.
It has been a steady climb up the ladder of success for the quiet girl who studied to be a journalist, became an RJ and then a YouTuber. Last year, she was the only content creator from India to be invited for the World Economic Forum and 28th annual United Nations Climate Change
Conference. Up next unspools the world’s first non-profit film series titled
‘She Creates Change’ where Prajakta lends her voice alongside Freida Pinto, Charithra Chandran. Meanwhile, her fresh, funny and feelgood romance – Too Good to Be True -hops off the Harper Collins press
this year as Prajakta makes her much awaited debut as an author. Can’t wait!
Excerpts from a conversation with Prajakta Koli…
What’s up?
I just finished shooting for Season 3 of
Mismatched for Netflix, and I am very
excited, awaiting its release eagerly. I am
writing a lot these days. I am working
on two projects that are very close to my
heart. Also, my book hits the stands later
this year. It is an eventful year!
You invited all your followers to choose
the cover: Share with us more about
your book.
Too Good to Be True- is a piece of
romance-fiction. The novel is something
I was toying with. Initially, I thought of
developing it as a show series. Then I
realised that I am a compulsive writer
when I began writing the book and the
chapters began to simply flow! It is such
a dream come true for me to be signed
on by HarperCollins, as some of my
favourite romance novels have been
published by them.
Are you where you thought you would
be five years ago?
It is better than I thought. Honestly
(laughs). I did not have a gameplan.
Did you always want to try your hand
at acting?
Yes. I hadn’t expected Mismatched to
fetch me so much acclaim. It feels surreal
sometimes. God has been very kind.
When did you discover your flair for
comedy?
Pretty early on. My posts are centred
around observational comedy. I
realised I wasn’t good at yoga, cooking,
teaching… But comedy is my forte. Yet
I didn’t go into this with any kind of
plan.
“Criticism has helped me throughout my
journey as a creator. I have always learned
from comments that tell me what could
have been better.“
What do you think exactly worked
for you?
A little bit of everything – being in
the right place at the right time;
having the initial starter advantage;
and yes, honestly enjoying and
having fun doing what I was doing.
Everything in a combination clicked
with the people.
How do you handle online trolling?
I have come up with my own logical
analysis. What I have learnt is there is a
very clear difference between criticism
and hate. Criticism has helped me
throughout my journey as a creator. I
have always learned from comments
that tell me what could have been better.
From them I have learnt, made relevant