Top viral sensations of 2022: From The Quick Style to Ali Sethi to mimicry, here’s what ignited the internet

The fast style

The Norwegian dance troupe was formed in 2006 by two Pakistani brothers – Bilal and Suleman Malik with Nasir Sirikhan in Oslo. Called Quick Crew at the time, they even won Norske Talenter, Norway’s version of America’s Got Talent in 2009. After choreographing for K-pop boy band BTS, collaborating with American R&B singer Usher, the actor Pakistani Mahira Khan and Indian Anil Kapoor, the Norwegian boys who call themselves The Quick Style burst onto the internet scene in 2022.

Their performance at a wedding catapulted them to international fame as they had the world dancing in their footsteps to songs like Kala Chashma, Chura Ke Dil Mera and Tumse Milke Dil Ka.

In a chat with The Indian Express, the band’s founding member Bilal Malik said it’s hard to explain why they’ve gone so massively viral this year. “We are a very diverse group with many different nationalities. This concept of dancing to culturally different types of music and seeing the world dancing to our dance steps which were also inspired by Hindi music and Indian dance style, it made people happy,” Bilal said.

Ali Seti

Ali Sethi, 38, rose to fame with his first novel, The Wish Maker, in 2009. He has been around for a while and sang a song for Mira Nair’s 2012 film The Reluctant Fundamentalist and appeared on several Pakistan Coke Studio seasons. But it was his collaboration with Shae Gill on the song Pasoori that made him one of the most viral sensations of the year. The song, released on February 6 this year, became Coke Studio’s most-watched video of all time and currently has 473 million views. Pasoori was loved by people on both sides of the border and became one of the most used Reels on Instagram.

Bhuban Badyakar

Bhuban Badyakar is a Bengali peanut seller who created Kacha Badam melody and lyrics to sell peanuts in Birbhum district of West Bengal. The song and its catchy tune caught the attention of celebrities and YouTubers which spawned a dance move. Everyone from Rajkumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar to Tanzanian brother-sister duo Kili Paul and Neema Paul have been seen singing along with Kacha Badam.

A Haryanvi version of the song in collaboration with Amit Dhull was also released with Badyakar, 51, in the music video. Badyakar had a car accident in May and disappeared for a time. He is now preparing to release two new songs he wrote.

Sumedh Shinde

If you’re active on social media, chances are you’ve come across videos of Sumedh Shinde, a dentist-turned-mimicist who has the ability to do voice impersonations of almost every Bollywood actor and singer. Speaking to The Indian Express, Shinde shared that 2022 was absolutely brilliant for him and he received a lot of love, appreciation and support from the public.

“My idea was always to do my best even when my videos didn’t go viral until 2022. I knew it only took one clip to connect with audiences and subscribers would increase once they would love your work,” he said.

The best thing that ever happened to him, he says, is Twitter. Her impersonation of Ranveer Singh’s reaction to a photo shoot went viral and Twitter followers increased dramatically. He said someone from Twitter contacted him and got him verified on the social platform within a day.

What do the actors do in Brahmastra?#brahmastrareview #brahmastra #sumedhshindey #sumedhshindeymimicry #bollywoodmimicry #Film critic #BrahmastraReview pic.twitter.com/6LEh85bGwx

— Sumedh Shinde (@sumedhcaddy) September 22, 2022

“Celebrities loved my work. Shilpa Shetty commented on my Brahmastra video on Instagram which also went viral. Pankaj Tripathi sir follows me on Instagram. Sonu Nigam shared my videos on his Facebook profile of me imitating him,” he shared.

He also had the opportunity to work on the 2022 FIFA World Cup where he met Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan. “Shah Rukh had seen my work before on social media and loved it. He is so humble and full of appreciation for others. It was a memorable experience,” he said.

Other than that, Shinde was able to do four major voice acting projects this year. He dubbed for Ajay Devgn in Hindi for Bear Grylls, for Pankaj Tripathi in Marathi for Criminal Justice Season 3, and his biggest project was to be the voice of Aamir Khan in the English version of Laal Singh Chadha.

Chandni Bhabda

Chandni Bhabda has gone incredibly viral for her Alia Bhatt impersonation this year. Her video impersonating Ali Bhatt’s character, Isha of Brahmastra, posted on September 11 has been viewed more than 11 million times. The Mumbaikar emulated Alia Bhatt’s repeated use of the name Shiva, a character played by Ranbir Kapoor in the film.

Bhabda, 23, told The Indian Express that this year has been great for her as she got massive recognition on social media. “To be honest, I think it was my year. I’m extremely grateful and grateful for all the love and support I’ve received on social media. I think when you love what you do and you do your job with all honesty, the universe pays it very well,” she said.

On what it takes to go viral, Chandni said there is no particular formula and there is no such thing as overnight success. “It is the hard work of many years that is rewarded by the people,” she said.

Bhabda’s impersonation of Alia Bhatt even got praise from the actor in one of his interviews. And when Bhabda met Karan Johar, he told her that Bhatt had seen all his videos. Bhabda said she has been impersonating Alia Bhatt for 10 years now and also doing voice impressions of characters like Marwari bahu, Marwari mom and Daya from popular TV show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, as well as actors Rakhi Sawant and Ananya Panday. “Social media has made our lives so much easier and every artist can show their talent on social media. It’s the best way to show your talent,” she said.