Prajakta Koli

Prajakta Koli is an Indian YouTuber and actress who makes comedy videos.[1] She is popularly known by her YouTube name "MostlySane". Her videos are focused mostly on observational comedy related to daily life situations.[2]

Prajakta Koli
Prajakta Koli in 2018
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Occupation
  • YouTuber
  • blogger
Websitemostlysane.in
YouTube information
ChannelsMostlySane
Years active2015–present
GenreComedy
Subscribers6.05 million
(22 January 2021)
Total views853.644 million
(22 January 2021)
NetworkOne Digital Entertainment
100,000 subscribers 2016
1,000,000 subscribers 2019
Updated: 22 January 2021

Early life

Koli was born and brought up in Thane. As a child, she was fond of listening to the radio and decided to be a radio jockey in Class 6.[3] Her father is a real-estate businessman turned restaurateur and her mother is a phonetics and language teacher. As a student, she participated in debates and elocutions. She studied in Vasant Vihar High School in Thane and later graduated with a Bachelor of Mass Media from V. G. Vaze College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Mulund,[4] affiliated to University of Mumbai.[5]

Career

She began her career in media at Fever 104 FM radio station in Mumbai as an intern. However, she was not happy with the work. After interning for a year, she was given her first show, Call Centre, at midnight everyday. The show flopped and she quit her job. While working as an intern, she was introduced to Sudeep Lahiri, who later took over as a vice-president at One Digital Entertainment. He encouraged her to launch a comedy YouTube channel. The channel launched in February 2015.[4][5]

Koli has collaborated with mainstream Bollywood actors such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Vicky Kaushal.[6][7]

She performed at the "YouTube FanFest" in Delhi in 2018 and in Mumbai in 2019.[8] In December 2018, she recorded a national TV commercial for WhatsApp which deals with the prevention of propaganda and spreading fake news through the messaging app.[9][10]

In February 2019 she was part of Forbes' list of 30 under 30 and in Outlook Business Magazine's list of Women of Worth[11] and Entrepreneur India's list of 35 under 35[12] along with winning Cosmopolitan's YouTuber of the Year award.[13] In January 2020, she was included in the annual "Cool list" of the gossip magazine Grazia India,[14] and in April 2020 she was featured on the cover of the magazine BW Businessworld as part of their Most Influential Women's list.[15]

In 2020 she announced the launch of her YouTube Originals show Pretty Fit, where she interviews other celebrities including Kareena Kapoor, Neha Kakkar, Sanya Malhotra, RJ Malishka, Mithila Palkar and Sumukhi Suresh, who are made to perform various tasks. The first episode was released on 21 January.[16]

In July 2020, Koli released a short film, Khayali Pulao, about female empowerment in rural Haryana.[17] She then acted in the Netflix series Mismatched, released in November 2020.[18] She will be acting in Dharma Productions' film, Jug Jugg Jeeyo.[19]

Social initiatives

#iPledgeToBeMe

On World Mental Health Day in 2016, Koli launched her campaign #iPledgeToBeMe which addresses mental health, well-being and body shaming. She shared her experiences of body shaming and wrote a rap song, "Shameless", in May 2017. The video features Raftaar, RJ Malishka and Mithila Palkar.[20]

#GirlsCount

In 2018, she participated in the #GirlsCount campaign for One.Org which dealt with the importance of girl's education.[21]

The UN and Goalkeepers Initiative

In September 2019 she traveled to the UN Headquarters in New York as a delegate to participate in the International Day of Tolerance and for the Goalkeepers program - an initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[22]

Creators for Change

In May 2018, she was one of the content creators participating in YouTube's Creators for Change program.[23][24] She made a music video named "No Offence" for her Creators For Change Project, which was shown in the United Nations as part of their International Day of Tolerance where she represented India.[25]

In a special episode of Creators For Change in 2020, Koli and two other YouTube content creators, Liza Koshy, and Thembe Mahlaba, interviewed girls in different countries about their opportunities for education, and discussed the topic with Michelle Obama.[26][25]

The Call To Unite / Room to Read

Prajakta represented India at The Call To Unite event which started on the 1st of May 2020 and featured Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Alanis Morissette, Quincy Jones and Mandy Moore among others.[27] The 24 hour 'streamathon' event was organized by UNITE and Room To Read in support of people facing challenges during the pandemic and to promote education among children during the COVID-19 pandemic.[28][29]

Discography

Singles
YearTitle
2017"Shameless" (featuring Raftaar)
2018"No Offence"
2020"Yeh Diss Gaana Hai"

Filmography
Year Title Role Director Language Notes
2020 Khayali Pulao Asha Tarun Dudeja Haryanvi YouTube exclusive, starring Yashpal Sharma
2020 Mismatched Dimple Akash Khurrana Hindi Netflix
2021 Jug Jugg Jeeyo TBA Raj Mehta Hindi Filming[30]

References
  1. "Meet Prajakta Koli and everything insane that makes her 'Insane'". indianexpress. 3 August 2018.
  2. ScoopWhoop (30 January 2018). "Meet Prajakta Koli, The Funny Girl From Mumbai The Internet Is Falling In Love With". ScoopWhoop. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. Jaleel, Bilal (6 February 2019). "Offline With an Internet Star: A Day in the Life of MostlySane". TheQuint. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. Ghosh, Debangana. "Meet the comedienne with the largest YouTube fan-base in India: The "MostlySane" Prajakta Koli". Outlook Business WoW. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. Matra, Adila (23 May 2018). "Queen of content Prajakta Koli takes us inside her life as a popular YouTuber". India Today. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  6. "Responsibility Has Become A Huge Focus For YouTube: Susan Wojcicki". Forbes India. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. "Kareena Kapoor Khan digs ground; video goes viral". mid-day. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. "Uber Eats, Vivo, 5 Star do tamasha at YouTube FanFest 2019". afaqs!. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. "WhatsApp's first India-specific TVCs attack fake news". www.afaqs.com. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  10. WhatsApp, WhatsApp - जन्मदिन बाँटिये, हंसी-मजाक बाँटिये, खुशियाँ बाँटिये, अफवाहें नहीं., retrieved 14 December 2018
  11. "Prajakta Koli – Outlook Business WoW". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  12. Sabharwal, Punita (9 February 2019). "Entrepreneur Reveals its 35 Under 35 Class of 2019". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. Satote, Monika (27 March 2019). "Cosmopolitan Awards Winners 2019: See The Full Report". Headlines of Today. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  14. "Prajakta Koli for Grazia Cool List 2020". grazia.co.in. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. "Anushka Sharma, Anita Dongre & Dipali Goenka among Business World's Most Influential Women - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. Samosa, Social (17 January 2020). "YouTube announces fitness-themed Original show in Indian market". Social Samosa. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  17. "YouTube Star Prajakta Koli Makes Acting Debut with Short Film 'Khayali Pulav'". News18 (Press release). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  18. Roy, Tulip (17 July 2020). "'Mismatched' cast: Take a look at the lead cast of the Netflix movie". Republic World. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  19. Dey Purkayastha, Pallabi (17 November 2020). "Prajakta Koli makes her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar's 'Jug Jugg Jeeyo'". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  20. MostlySane (25 May 2017), Shameless (शेमलेस) by Prajakta Koli ft. Raftaar | MostlySane | #iPledgeToBeMe, retrieved 8 March 2019
  21. Roy, Dhaval (12 November 2018). "Prajakta Koli's video to be screened by the UN". DNA India. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  22. "Haters don't affect me: Prajakta Koli". Outlook India Magazine. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  23. "AIB, Niharika NM, MostlySane Join YouTube's 'Creators For Change' Program". News18. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  24. "YouTube on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  25. Agarwal, Mihika (17 March 2020). "Meet the Indian vlogger who joined forces with Michelle Obama to fight for girls' education". Vogue India. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  26. Haithman, Diane (18 January 2020). "YouTube 'Creators for Change' Anticipates Michelle Obama Interview – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  27. "Prajakta Koli to represent India at 'The Call To Unite' event featuring Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts and others - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  28. "Room to Read Joins The Call to Unite with Julia Roberts and Prajakta Koli". www.roomtoread.org. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  29. "COVID-19: Prajakta Koli Joins Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey In The Call to Unite 24-hour Livestream". News18. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  30. Mukherjee, Nairita (13 November 2020). "Neetu Kapoor kicks off Jug Jug Jiyo with Anil, Varun, Kiara and a note to Rishi Kapoor". India Today. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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