YouTube Trends 2024: Diljit Dosanjh, Ambani wedding take top spots with billions of views

Diljit Dosanjh performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Indio, Calif; Anant Ambani, son of businessman Mukesh Ambani, poses with his fiance Radhika Merchant on the red carpet during the sangeet ceremony at Jio World Centre, Mumbai, India, July 5, 2024
| Photo Credit: Amy Harris/Invision/AP/PTI and REUTERS/Hemanshi Kamani

With the curtains closing on 2024, YouTube revealed the top trends, creators and moments that resonated across India on the video platform.

2024, the year of Diljit Dosanjh

In the sphere of entertainment, popular Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh found a spot amongst the most trending topics this year. According to YouTube, videos with the keyword “Diljit Dosanjh” or related to Diljit Dosanjh received more than 3.9 billion views in 2024 in India. This is of course not surprising considering the sensational year the pop star has had.

Dosanjh’s year began with the release of the highly acclaimed film, Amar Singh Chamkila, in which he portrayed the titular musician with flair and depth. In June, in a historic moment for Indian music on the global stage, Dosanjh made his debut appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, in which he delivered a sensational performance that left audiences mesmerised.

Parineeti Chopra as Amarjot Kaur, Diljit Dosanjh as Amar Singh Chamkila in ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’
| Photo Credit:
MUBEEN SIDDIQUI / Netflix

This was of course just a day after the release of ‘Bhairava Anthem,’ the stellar track from Prabhas’ Kalki 2898 AD; Dosanjh appeared alongside the Telugu superstar in the music video, which has garnered over 16 million views on YouTube.

In October, Dosanjh teamed up with American rapper Pitbull and pop singer Neeraj Shridhar for the title track of the blockbuster horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, starring Kartik Aaryan. The video has amassed over 79 million views on YouTube as of today.

The same month, Dosanjh kick-started his sensational Dil-Luminati India Tour 2024. The tour’s opening shows in Delhi became the fastest-selling and highest-grossing concert event in Indian history. Unfortunately, the concerts fell prey to black-marketing of tickets.

Following the rapid sellout, numerous reports emerged of individuals being deceived through fraudulent ticket sales. Many fans discovered that they were sold fake tickets or charged exorbitant prices for legitimate ones. Post this, the Enforcement Directorate launched an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and conducted searches at over 13 locations on October 25. Dosanjh’s Delhi concerts also faced backlash over severe mismanagement from the organisers. During his concert in Jaipur, Dosanjh expressed regret about fans falling prey to a ticketing scam and advised his fans to be cautious of such scams.

Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh performs at JLN Stadium, in New Delhi, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
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Another controversy erupted earlier last month when Dosanjh took on the Telangana government in style at his Hyderabad concert. Ahead of the concert, the government had issued a notice banning songs promoting alcohol, drugs, and violence to be sung at the event. During his performance, Dosanjh to much applause from the crowd sang modified lyrics to his chartbusters “Lemonade” and “5 Taara”

“If an artist comes from outside the country, they can sing or do whatever they want, there’s no tension. But when your artist is coming home to perform, you have a problem, you create trouble. But I’ll tell you something. God is with me, I won’t let this go,” Dosanjh was quoted saying at the concert. At his Gujarat show — in which he refrained from alcohol-themed songs in compliance with Gujarat’s dry state rules — Dosanjh said, “Declare a dry day wherever my shows are, and I’ll refrain from alcohol-related songs. It’s easy for me to tweak my lyrics.”

Nevertheless, 2024 has been a monumental year for Dosanjh who has transcended cultural and language barriers to become one of the most prominent South Asian artists on the global stage.

When the Ambanis turned India into their star-studded opulent theatre

Another major topic that found a lot of traction on YouTube this year was the star-studded wedding of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man, and Radhika Merchant, daughter of Indian pharma tycoons Viren and Shaila Merchant. In India, videos with the words “Ambani” and “Wedding” in the title received more than 6.5 billion views in 2024, as per a report by YouTube.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani ties the knot with Radhika Merchant in the extravagant wedding ceremony, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai
| Photo Credit:
ANI

The star-studded event that spanned for months was attended by celebrities from across the globe, politicians, who’s who of Hindi and south Indian cinema world and almost all the top cricketers of the country.

Global personalities like Kim Kardashian, her sister Khloe Kardashian, John Cena, Rema, former British prime minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, and others lent international zing at the event.

The Bollywood personalities that were present at the event included Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff and Varun Dhawan. The list of other popular Indian personalities also included cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to yesteryear great Krish Srikkanth and latest sensations Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.

The entourage from down south was led by Rajinikanth, Suriya, Jyotika, Ram Charan, Yash, Mahesh Babu, Rana Daggubati, Venkatesh Daggubati, Prithviraj, Atlee and Nayanthara.

ALSO READ:‘A surreal 24 hours’: John Cena shares pic with Shah Rukh Khan at Anant Ambani-Radhika’s wedding ceremony

Singer Justin Bieber poses for a photo with Anant Ambani and his fiancé Radhika Merchant during pre-wedding festivities of the couple, in Mumbai.
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While the world watched in awe of the ‘wedding of the year,’ videos from the event took YouTube by storm this year. From videos of Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and MS Dhoni dancing at the baraat ceremony to videos of performances by Rihanna, Akon, Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, there was no lack of content for news portals and YouTube channels.

The Ambanis truly turned India into one big wedding stage.

Meanwhile, according to YouTube, there have been over 7 billion views of videos related to the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024, while videos with the words “moye moye” in the title received more than 4.5 billion views.