2022 viral videos: Six social media moments that charmed Indians
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A news debate exchange in March made "McAdams" a top Twitter trend in India
Sometimes, it takes time and effort to go viral on social media.
And other times, you just go viral for yelling at the wrong man on live TV.
This year's top social media moments in India were an entertaining mix of the two.
1. "I am Mr McAdams!"
One of the first big viral moments of the year was a comedy of errors that played out live on an Indian news channel.
News anchor Rahul Shivshankar, who was hosting a panel discussion on the TV channel Times Now, berated a Ukrainian journalist for almost two minutes, thinking he was addressing Daniel McAdams, a US foreign policy commentator.
The anchor only realised his mistake when a frustrated Mr McAdams - the other guest - yelled back. "I AM Mr McAdams! I am Mr McAdams and I haven't said a word, so stop yelling at me!"
The exchange made "McAdams" a top Twitter trend in India as viewers used to seeing high-decibel news debates on the channel sympathised with his plight.
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2. Ranveer Singh's photoshoot
Bollywood star Ranveer Singh's nude photoshoot for Paper Magazine in July led to a flurry of memes and jokes online.
Most jokes referenced the actor's flamboyant sense of style and exuberant persona and took aim at his slightly awkward poses from the shoot - one meme, for instance, superimposed Singh on Michaelangelo's painting, The Creation of Adam.
Others exercised their creativity by covering him up.
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But the photos also spurred outrage and indignation.
3. Kala Chashma takes over the internet - again
Norwegian crew Quick Style went viral for performing a hit song from the 2016 Bollywood film Baar Baar Dekho at a wedding in June.
Dressed in suits for their friend's wedding, the men sported sunglasses as they performed to Kala Chashma among other Bollywood hits.
The viral video soon had people across the world dancing, and it became a trend on Instagram and Tiktok. A video of the full performance has over 95 million views on YouTube.
Their Instagram Reel, external also got the attention of Bollywood star Katrina Kaif, who featured in the original song - she left a fire emoji in the comments section.
4. India falls in love with Kili and Neema Paul
Tanzanian siblings Kili and Neema Paul's videos of themselves lip syncing perfectly to a host of songs in Indian languages have earned them a huge fanbase in India.
The siblings take turns singing and dance to some of the most popular songs in Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil and post the videos on TikTok (which is banned in India) and Instagram.
Kili and Neema taught themselves to sing in Hindi after watching Bollywood films in the local cinemas in Tanzania.
"I fell in love with the movies and the songs. When you love something it becomes easy to learn," Kili told the BBC last year.
One of their most popular videos, a performance of the song Arabic Kuthu from the Tamil-language film Beast, has more than 80 million views on Instagram.
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Kili visited India in October and appeared on Indian reality TV and dance shows.
5. A 1954 song becomes a hit again
One of the songs Kili and Neema Paul have danced to recently? Lata Mangeshkar's song Mera Dil Yeh Pukare Aaja, which swept through social media in November after a Pakistani woman danced to it at a wedding.
Ayesha, dressed in a green outfit, danced to a remixed version of the 1954 Bollywood song and soon had Indians and Pakistanis grooving.
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Her video has been viewed more than 19 million times since it was posted on 11 November. It also introduced the song to a new set of fans and generated more than two million Instagram reels, external - even Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit couldn't resist it, external.
6. The peanut song
A street vendor's jingle while trying to sell peanuts in West Bengal state went viral in the first few months of 2022 after it was captured on video, external. Bhuban Badyakar's song Kacha Badam - meaning raw peanuts - was on everyone's lips as it became a hit on YouTube and Instagram.
Badyakar later collaborated with musicians Nazmu Reachat and Amit Dhull to do videos and songs based on his jingle.
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