YouTuber Prajakta Koli, popularly known by her channel name “MostlySane”, boasts a following of more than 3.6 million subscribers on the video-sharing site. Koli’s journey on YouTube started in February 2015, when she uploaded her first video titled “5 types of singles on valentine’s day”, which she regards as the big “decision of my life”.
Since childhood, the 25-year-old had been dreaming, and working towards, becoming a radio jockey, but she ended up starting her own YouTube channel after realising that being an RJ was totally different from what she had imagined. She said, “Everything that I did academically and as part of my extra-curriculars was focused on realising this dream [of being an RJ]. Eventually, I started working as an intern with a radio station in Mumbai. However, it wasn’t like how I had imagined it to be. It was during this time that I met Sudeep from One Digital Entertainment [a digital content creator network] who suggested that I should start a YouTube channel. At first, I was not sure of it as a career as I was already failing at my first plan that I had chased as a child. However, after a lot of coaxing from One Digital Entertainment and months of deliberation, I finally gave in…”
Koli has been creating content for YouTube for four years now, and feels that a high Internet penetration across India has added to the growth of the medium. This exponential increase in the number of Internet users has enabled a greater variety of content online and it has made it possible for creators to reach out to bigger audiences.
“The best part about YouTube is the instantaneousness of the platform. I think the content keeps evolving every day as the creators and the audiences evolve. It [YouTube] is an on-demand platform that works in equal balance with the choices of the creators and the audiences together,” she said.
The Mumbai-based YouTuber has collaborated, for content on her social media platforms, with various Bollywood celebrities like John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Kajol among others. However, her favourite collaboration has been with Ayushmann Khurrana for his 2018 movie Andhadhun. She said, “With him [Ayushmann] it was super fun and collaborative, because he was highly involved. He gave his inputs on how to make the script more fun. Additionally, I had met him earlier when I was working at the radio station as an intern and he was so nice to me even then—I just really like him for the person that he is.”
Recently, Koli also made a candid video with the YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, when the latter was in India. Koli elaborated on her experience of shooting with Wojcicki and called it the “biggest milestone” in her career. She said, “I was so nervous before the shoot since this was going to be the first time she was going to give an interview to a creator and I wanted it to be next to perfect. She is such a warm and humble person and we had such a good time chatting prior to the shoot which was quite encouraging. We discussed how Google started off in her garage; what made her believe in acquiring YouTube; the responsibilities the platform has towards society and several other things. She is an incredible person and the whole experience has been very inspiring and one of the best, to say the least.”
Platforms like YouTube are known for propelling unknown faces to fame. The potential of the medium in this regard has only grown since its inception in 2005. “YouTube gives us, as artistes, a platform to play on our own,” Koli said. She also believes that the platform can offer a long-term career option to creators. “It’s the biggest support an artiste can get. It’s a great start. You don’t have to be dependent on someone to give you a break. You do it for yourself and you work your way up. YouTube gives you that power and freedom. I hundred percent think that it gives you a lifelong career. It’s my fulltime job. And it has given me opportunities I couldn’t even dream of,”
she said.
The boom in the digital market has made YouTube a busy place, which in turn has made content creation and presentation tricky. Koli, however, views the positive side of the surge: the fact that content consumption has also increased manifold in the past years. “Also, more than the new content, it isabout presenting content in a new way. You have to keep experimenting and learning and listening to what your audience likes watching and what you like creating. Every week is a new opportunity,” she added.
Koli described her creative process as “observational” and said, “Every video on my channel comes from experience. I have started trying my hand at writing fiction lately, but that too stems from personal experience somehow. I like observing my surroundings and making little notes to work on topics I think might make for good video ideas. Also, the audiences on YouTube are very honest and helpful. Comments are a great way of taking feedback about your content and writing new content.”
In the past few months Koli has won several prestigious awards, including the Women of Worth award by Outlook Business and the YouTuber of the Year 2019 award by Cosmopolitan India. She also appears on Forbes India’s “30 under 30 2019” list. On the accolades that have come her way, Koli said, “Each of these awards has a special place and I am extremely grateful to all these publications that gave me this honour.”