Culture Round-Up: K-Pop, Bhramastra & Stranger Things excited netizens in June’22

With Karan Johar brewing some gossip on the ‘Koffee Couch’ and Alia Bhat-Ranbir Kapoor announcing their pregnancy to shows like ‘Stranger Things’ and movies like ‘Jug Jug Jeeyo’ and ‘Bhramastra’, there were not many dull moments for the Indian netizens in the past month. From sports to music, to celebrity gossip, the internet was hooked to discussions, creating viral memes and striking interesting conversations.

Here’s Starcom’s monthly culture roundup, giving a peek into what trended over the web in June 2022.

Rolling the Balls

When it comes to sports, the conversations majorly revolved around cricket, football, and basketball.

In cricket, South Africa’s tour to Vizag and India v/s Ireland series captivated the audience's interest. Additionally, Sri Lanka vs Australia and England vs Netherlands were also searched by the Indian audience with equal enthusiasm. Pakistan vs West Indies also captured a lot of interest where Shabab’s best career performance led Pakistan to their victory. For football fans, Lionel Messi’s birthday and Sadio Mane’s decision to quit Liverpool and join Bayern Munich were the key points of discussion on the web. In Basketball, the NBA finals attracted a lot of chatter.

The Telly & Bolly Connection

Both television and Bollywood gave enough viral moments for the netizens to swarm on. Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ‘Bhramastra’ and ‘Shamshera’ kept the internet hooked with their trailer and first look, respectively. Another movie that kept the netizens talking was Varun Dhawan-Kiara Advani’s ‘Jug Jug Jeeyo.’

#ShaRa (Shamita Shetty and Raquesh Bhatt) and #TejRan (Tejassvi Prakash and Karan Kundrra) were also hot in the month of June. Fans were drooling over couples’ chemistry while also mentioning ‘jug jug jiyo TejRan’, with Anil Kapoor’s mentioning of the same.

Strange & Stranger 

When it comes to digital content, Stranger Things and Dr. Strange spiked the OTT searches with Stranger Things releasing its season 4 part 2 in early July and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releasing on Disney Hotstar. 

Money Heist Korea, Squid Games season 2 announcement and new season of Koffee with Karan also created hype across the internet. 

For the Love of Music 

Music kept the whole community engaged with not only their chartbuster songs but also with their unexpected fan services and K-Pop was the one in limelight. BTS was clearly all over Indian Twitter mentions with the release of their new album “Yet to Come”, their most anticipated concert in India speculated around August 2022, their members Jimin and Seok Jin turning on the heat with their magazine photoshoots and Jungkook releasing a chartbuster “Left and Right” with Charlie Puth. 

Naeyon from TWICE! left her fans in awe with her solo debut ‘POP!’ and Jennie from Blackpink getting a role in Weeknd’s HBO show, ‘The Idol’. It would be fair to say that K-Pop fans have been experiencing good feed all over June. 

Moving ahead from K-Pop, Beyonce and Drake have also left their fans in shock and excitement with Beyonce releasing her new album ‘Renaissance’ on 29th of July’2022 and Drake surprise releasing his album ‘Honesty, Nevermind’. 

On Spotify and YouTube, ‘Passoori’ remained at the top with maximum plays followed by ‘No Love by Shubh’ and ‘Excuses’ by AP Dhillon. Yo Yo Honey Singh and Jungkook have made a smashing entry into the most played artists’ list with Yo Yo’s returning song ‘Ka Kha Ga’ and Jungkook’s ‘Left and Right’ with Charlie Puth. Sidhu Moosewala’s gangsta style still remains trending among Indian music enthusiasts with his 295 and last ride remaining in top 10 all month long. 

Instagram Trends 

Popular in reels was the “Sway transition” trend with people transitioning from their boring selves to something ‘bling’. The trend was made more interesting with people setting their creativity loose! Another trend was around the smacking tortilla challenge where a group played stone-paper-scissors and the winner smacks the loser. Now, isn’t it a head-turning event? The Rover hook step and cough challenge were also some of the most interactive trends on Instagram reels among them. 

For a more detailed document, please write to rathi.gangappa@publicismedia.com