 Malabar. So, just in case you want to be a part of it, you can go to Malabar. Malabar Hills, not Malabar, the room next to it. All right. Now, this session is the role of influencers in marketing is unchallenged. Please join me in inviting our celebs on the stage for a chat on the topic, the state of influencer marketing and the way ahead. Please welcome to share the session Ankit Wengalukar, editor at Tech2. Let's give a big round of applause. Welcome, Ankit. And to be a part of this conversation, let's welcome singer Dhwani Bhanushali. Let's give a round of applause to Dhwani. Dhwani, what a lovely voice you are. What a lovely voice. Before the panel discussion, we will also hear your voice. How many of you think Dhwani should sing before the panel discussion gets started? It's a part of the panel. Okay, lovely. So, make sure that this panel goes on for a long time. All right. Okay. Please welcome Indian author known for the immortals of Melua. Please give it up for Amish Tripathi. Zor Althalya. Amish, welcome. And please welcome the man who changed music forever, the remixist's father. I'm a big fan of his. Please give it up for DJ Suketu. Suddenly, everybody is excited. Where is DJ Consul? And Suketu is saying, my brother is my Consul. Let's play it. All right. And here by us, please give it up for Dino James, a rapper and YouTuber. Zor Althalya for Dino James. And Ranveer Alabadhi is going to be joining us a little later. And of course, we've got another guest of ours, who is trapped in the rain and is singing. Please give a round of applause as he comes inside. We'll be back in 5-7 minutes. Please welcome our next guest. That's Rijesh Heer. He's a brilliant actor. But right now, to moderate this, Ankith Othio. Okay. So, obviously, this discussion is going to be about influencers or people who have started calling them influencers these days. Some kind of illness has happened. Are we going to get sick or are we going to do something good with him? We're going to be talking about that. Feel free to pop any questions and song requests if you guys want. Dhoni is totally going to kill me. But let's see what we can do with that. We're going to wait for, I mean, when Rajesh and Ranveer come in, we'll make them a part of the conversation as well after they do 10 push-ups each. Awesome. Dhoni, you were talking about the songs of the rain. So, I'd obviously like to start with you and asking you what is your favorite song or memory? And if you could please oblige us with like a couple lines of that song. Thank you. So, for me, I used to go with my family to Lonavala every time it started to rain. For Maggie and Bhajia and Chai, of course. So, that's my favorite memory. Yeah, dude, I'm 21. I'm supposed to roam with my parents. We're in India. That's amazing. And I like this song called Ik Tara. So, I can sing a few lines. Yes, please, please, absolutely. Thank you. Big round of applause for Dhoni Banu Shali. That's amazing. Now, we have actually quite a musical bunch here from Siketu to Dhoni to Dino. We're going to come to each one of you, but let's first start with some of the granddaddies of the business if I may say so. Let's start with Suketu. You've literally created tunes that have set the groove for the entire country. Suketu, help us understand you've been in the music business for how many years, how many decades now? And how is the equation in this particular industry changing? Because typically the biggest names in the music in the entertainment business are traditionally, you know, films that have big names or playbacks that have singers. But one of the biggest disruptions that happened about five to eight years ago was the coming of YouTube. And this whole new breed of singers emerged from every nook and cranny making cute videos on their webcams, from their bedrooms, and today some of these names are massive, right? Look at Jonathan Gandhi, for example, literally a YouTube product, and today she's doing so well. So talk to us about how the transformation has happened. How do you see it? Well, I think one thing which I've observed is that when I started 20 years ago, it was just about the music and the performance, the music and the performance. There was nothing else there to support you to actually get there other than Bombay Times. And that also after that you had to start paying for it, so wow. But yeah, that was it. I think in the last five, six years, I think it's been really fantastic because in the last five years I've come across a lot of talent which I wouldn't have come across before. When we started making remixes, if I wanted to find a Javed Ali, I had to actually go to Little Wonders, which was Kalyan Ji by Anand Ji by his institute, and ask them that, you know, do you have any new singers who are actually there who will come up and who can sing something like this because they're making a remix. And now I just need to get on to YouTube. I just see who's trending, what's happening, and you've got your singer right there. So it's just amazing. I think that it's become, it's opened the market a lot. And now the best thing which I like is that collaborating with somebody, you don't have to actually go there physically to collaborate with them. It all happens in your studio, through the internet, through YouTube, and just sharing. It's fantastic. Even three of us are working on a track together right now, and we all three are in Bombay. Akil, Neeraj and me, the track is going to be out soon. And we haven't gone to each other's studios at all. We're just team sharing everything and just working just like that. From Neeraj's singing to our programming, everything, just from our own studios. Are you serious? So it's just fantastic. You guys are just getting lazy is all. No. Yeah, but you just spoke about the rains and the traffic and everything like that. Oh, come on. 45 minutes going to somebody's studio. My creativity will get wasted in the car just driving there. Right. So I think one of the biggest changes is this YouTube and other platforms have just changed people getting together and music becoming more global and much better. That's fantastic because music really is a universal language touches everyone. Great points you made. Key takeaway is artist discovery has been democratized and that has become much easier. And content creation has become much easier and faster. I want to come to you, Tino. Cool hat, by the way. Cool hat. Okay. Thank you so much. And talk to us about your content creation process. When did you start? What is it that for the benefit of people who don't know what is it that you do? And when did you feel like OMG? This is happening now, bro. This was almost three or four years back. So mine, you know, I am a rapper. The people don't know me. I'm a rapper. I do, you know, songs on YouTube. So I've got almost 12 songs released and I've got almost 2.1 million subscribers now. So my intention was completely pure. It was not to be a rapper. It was not to be known in YouTube. I've got a feeling I'm going through a trauma. So I did a song called Girlfriend that was with the culture machine. So it just, it just blew. So you went through a heartbreak and so your release was a creative song? Yeah, it was not a planned release that I wanted to actually do good on YouTube. This happened almost three years back that YouTube has become very big. But that time people were not really aware about making videos and, you know, doing a song. Now it's comparatively a bit easier. So mine was completely very pure. I was going through a trauma roller coaster in my mind. So my intention was just to take out a song. After that, I didn't know what to sing, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do. I didn't know what to do on YouTube. During that song, I found out about mixing mastering. What is arrangement, what is music, how things should be done. I used to be a rap listener. So somehow I, you know, put all my lyrics together and rhymes together. And it just worked for me. And then the reason why I opened up my own channel was because I didn't know what to do. So mine was completely pure. Mine was no marketing. No, I didn't want it to be there. It was pure blessing that, and second, my song was supposed to go in PRC function number two. So I had a discussion with Lover Engine. So my lyrics was pretty little bold and raw. So they thought it's bad for the film. And then I realized I need to, you know, come up with more songs. And then I need a platform to put my songs in. So it was all an accident. It was all on an accident. So now people talk about YouTube, how to go on YouTube and how to create content and how to go there. And I just tell them one thing here, listen to your heart and do what you feel like doing right. You know, because strategies and things sometimes doesn't work. So you know, whatever you do, you cannot do something to hit people. It has to be very, very pure. Very personal. Are we okay listening to a few lines of your rap here? I know it's a room full of adults. Is it okay with the, it's okay with you guys, right? If you're live streaming or whatever, it's cool. We can hear that, right? So I've done a song, actually. I've done a song called Bhokali recently. The song is basically about telling people that, you know, Bhokali means it's a very North Indian word. Bhokali means self-boasting. So it's a song actually where I'm telling people that, you know, you think that I'm very big. You think when you go to colleges and events and judging shows and all, you got, you know, bodyguards and you got people like, you've got all these things happening. And people think that you're doing so good. You've got, you know, discoveries and doing, you know, doing so much of money. So I was just telling people, you know, that it's a side of artists where artists are not doing all that all that great, you know. You don't know, you've got, you know, I will eat that and say. I will cheat. In the exam. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I have eaten a lot. I am so sorry. I feel very jealous. I feel very hungry. I have not had any hope to earn a lot of money. I have not had any hope to earn a lot of money. If I had not had any hope, I would have voted. I had a lot of opportunities. I am very happy. It's called happy. Thank you. You basically dropped this 45 minute panel discussion in one song. Influenza is exactly right about the disease. That's amazing. Good stuff, man. Good stuff. Three years, two million subscribers completely organic. That's pretty remarkable. Yeah, like I said. Because sometimes there is a big blessing to know something. There is a big blessing to know marketing. Then you more focus on your work. I sometimes struggle to log out. I don't know how to log out. So I can put completely. That's why it's subconscious. So you eventually put completely your energy to your product. So I don't know. Good stuff. Good stuff. Lovely. So from one musical talent and rapper on YouTube to another one. Amish, I am going to come to you in the end. Because as much as you have marketing and all of this, it's only fair that I come to you last. So Dhwani, to you. Congratulations on just getting graduated. Thank you. Like wow. What? That's amazing. And congratulations on the song Koka, which came out this morning and is already totally legit viral on the World Wide Web. It's breaking the internet. Thank you so much. Have you guys seen Koka? It's a remake. Again. Yeah, it's a remake. I'm so sorry. Well, it's okay. So talk to us about your journey. Your song Vaste garnered the fastest 200 million views on YouTube ever on the T-Series YouTube channel. Isn't it all too surreal? Did you see this coming and how are you dealing with that? I didn't see any of this coming. We were just focusing on how to make a good product, you know, for people, how to make a good story for them to see. So it just happened the first, the time we put it on and the next morning I got, I was like, dude, it's hitting millions. I'm like, wow. And my dad is like, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. Let's go to Lanawala. Done. Okay. So that happened. And before that, Leja came in and even Leja was doing well. So I think it's not me. It's the whole team. And of course, when you put out good content on, you know, the social media or on YouTube, they tend to get attracted to it and they watch it over and over again. So yeah, I think that's what we did. I love the humility where you said it's not just me. It's the entire team. I guess if you keep that attitude and you keep your head down and keep working, success will never really be far away from you. So that's fantastic. Is it difficult? Is there a pressure? Because you have done hundreds of millions of songs and you have brought a new piece of content. Is there a pressure that, oh, this should do well. I hope it does well. And then does one use any and every kind of mechanism to make sure it is again doing those kind of numbers? Does your entire creative process dominate or dictate from numbers? Not really. I mean, I don't really think about the numbers because if you're working well, if you're doing like a good thing, if you're making good music, I don't think you should be worried about numbers. If you're making a good video, I don't think numbers will come because your people want to see a good video, they want to hear good music. So that's what I do. I mean, all of us, we strive to make good music, make a good song, make an even better video than the last time, which is relating to the song and tells a story. Then the numbers will come. I don't really think about the numbers. Okay. Interesting. As a YouTuber, I mean, talk to us about your social media mix. Where all do you create what all kind of content and have you started engaging with brands to do branded content and things like that? You have a house announcement? Sorry to button. It's incredible. What a story. We love your music and you're doing well. You actually give us food to thought and we love all your sad voices. Oh, life is so beautiful. Thank you. That's been incredible. Rajesh has come in and let's give a big round of applause for the man who actually puts a lot of smile. And Rajesh here. Sir, where did you get all the panel discussion? Where did you get it? Rajesh, thank you very much. I apologize profusely for the delay. I had to swim here. Oh, come on. You're pretty. You know, if they can convince the BMC that in Mumbai, in the first rain of the day, the darkness doesn't stop. The Gokhale Bridge will fall. Sorry, man. Really sorry, guys. Please. We had told you that we'll get you 10 push-ups when you come. Are you crazy? No. Okay. I'll let you settle down. Grab some water. Back to you, Dhwani. What's your social media mix like? Have you started doing branded content and things like that? I recently did the Gulf oil video for Team Pride for the cricket season. Okay. It's just started. I started with that. I think there are more brand integrations to come forward. Okay. And all I do is make videos and sing. Okay. Nothing more than that. I would love to get into branding and stuff, but it's just started. I'm just two videos old. And I think there's a lot ahead. So it's easy for you because you're within your character itself. You don't have to do anything different. You don't have to dance. You don't have to tag anyone. You don't have to push-ups. No, no, no. I want to be a pop star. So I want to stick to my music and the brands that I associate with. And I should believe in them before associating with them. Well, you want to be a pop star? With that comes the territory of doing everything, right? Yeah. From, like, I don't know, Kenny, Goodcar to, like, everything. Everything comes into it. Would you do... But why Kenny, Goodcar? I don't do Kenny, Goodcar. So I'm not going to associate with Kenny. I was just going to ask. If there are brands or products that go beyond what you personally don't use, for example. But that depends... I think that depends on the influencer. I think they have to be... I'm asking about you. Yeah. For me, I am like that. I will not do something that I don't use personally. Okay. Because I can't go ahead and tell people that I'm using a fairness cream to, you know... It'll be scary if you needed a fairness cream, actually. Exactly. So this comes with the jeans. It comes with... Because my parents are fair, I am fair. It's not that I used some fairness cream and I got it. So I'm never going to stand for something like this. Okay. Interesting. Okay. Amish, you have a brand new book coming out. It's called Ravan and the End of Aryavarth. End of Aryavarth? No. Ravan the enemy of Aryavarth. The enemy? Yeah. Jai Aryavarth. Absolutely. So the thing that strikes me most about you, Amish, is apart from the fact, if people don't know that he is India's most remarkable writing talent, is how innovatively and ingeniously you use marketing tools as an author. And a lot of these ideas actually pop up from your... The same head that's coming up with these amazing mythological sagas and stories. So talk to us about some of the innovative things you have done to, in a way, use your influence to market your book and your titles. Yeah. Ravan the enemy of Aryavarth is launching on 1st July. And how it works for me, at least I believe, artists should be, for the want of a better term, a little schizophrenic. Okay. So when you're actually in your creative process, when you're writing, when you're writing music or anything, you should frankly be cut off from everyone. I tend to be that way. Doing my writing phase and you won't find me at parties. I don't do TV panel discussions. I'm not very social in any case. So I just... I'm glad you don't do TV panel discussions. Yeah. Thank you. Life saver. So I only read and write in that phase. And I don't really interact with too many people. And when I'm writing, I only think of the book. I get a damn about how people will react to it, how readers will react to it, how critics or publishers or even my editor, how they'll react. Because moment you start doing that, you corrupt the process. Okay. So the creative process has to be completely pure. It should be driven only by your emotions and by your heart. The thing is that when the book is ready or when the music is ready, anything, when the product is ready, then you have to become a practical, pragmatic marketing guy. You know, the way I see it... You know, you got to pay attention to it. No, no, no. It's work for him, man. I'm telling you where I'm coming from. Because, you know, say the publishers invested tons of money in my books. For me to take a stand that, dude, I have to be pure and you make losses. That's your problem. My man, that's Adharma. That's wrong, you know. It's my duty to make sure he does not lose money, which means I have to do every damn thing that I can do without change. The product cannot be touched. I'm not going to change anything in the book to make it appeal to some segment or someone. The book has to be pure. It cannot be touched. But how does one market this so that it sells? And the publisher actually makes money. Or retailers, agencies, whoever is associated with my book, they should not lose money. They should benefit. You've done something very innovative for the current book. Why don't you tell us about that? So then the ideas, then, you know, I can't take, you know, like claim credit for all the ideas. Most of the ideas come out of a fantastic team, actually. That's amazing. Perhaps the only credit I can take claim for is that I have the ability to pick a good idea. Sure. And drive with it. So one of the things that we did for Ravan, I always think a marketing strategy has to, we have a room full of marketers out here. Often we tend to take off on our own, you know, and marketers. And we just want to do something innovative for the heck of being innovative. Right. Just because you want to win some award or some other nonsense like that. Marketing has to tie into the overall business strategy. Right. So what we've done for Ravan, because the media scenario has changed. You know, these sermon from the mountains and you bringing out ads and everyone will follow it. That could have been done maybe four or five years ago. It started changing slowly. Last two years it's changed very rapidly. Right. You know, the audience, it's not a one-way communication. Now it's a dialogue. It's a dialogue. The audience also, as Sukethu said very rightly, is democratized. The internet has truly democratized the conversation. So they communicate back to you as well. So you are not in complete control of your brand. You can only just trigger a conversation. And hope for them to talk about you. Okay. Because some brand taking out an ad that has lower and lower effectiveness going forward. So how can one do something which actually is linked to the book, linked to the product you want to market, but also works for the users so that they may want to, you know, to spread it, share it with their friends. Right. So we did something innovative. From what I've been told it's never been done before for a book in India, which is a filter. You know, so... Everyone knows face filters, right? Facebook filters. Where you become a cook, the billy and like rabbit and all that on Snapchat. So yeah. Yeah. Face filters. It's your jam, right? Yeah. Okay. I'm 44. I got to know of this. You're 44? I got to know of this only three weeks back. Okay. Oh my God. I'm gonna take credit. So I have, you know, my agency actually makes training videos for me. Oh. How do I make an Instagram story? I'm not joking. Are you serious? I have no freaking clue. Okay. So they made training videos for me. Okay. So anyway, so we discovered this. And the idea that emerged was we have a kick ass cover for our enemy or whatever. The agency did a lovely job. Can we kind of, you know, have something which works with the cover and insert my readers into it. Okay. Okay. So that they, you know, because the person that most of us love most is usually ourselves. Correct. We're all megalomaniacs. We are all. It is a narcissistic world, right? So if you're gonna, if you want someone to share something, if you can insert them into the conversation, they certainly share it. So it's a filter on Facebook. What, what it does, you put a camera on your face comes on and Ravan's headgear and you know, mustache and the cover and the beard, everything comes on. You look quite dapper. I look better with the Ravan headgear. I agree. I agree. It's a inner demon. And it comes in the inner demon. So it comes in with the music and you know, the background, the cover in the background. And this comes as a filter and you can record a video and post it on Instagram. I still haven't figured out how they do it, but somehow you can post it on Instagram. I think story. If I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Instagram story automatically and on Facebook automatically. Okay. And you can kind of click a button and one is just you as Ravan. If you click a button, then the cover comes on and Ravan is there in all his muscular glory, but your face is on there. Okay. I think with my dad board, I would, I would love that, you know, your face and the six pack. Ravan is like a killer. That's amazing. He's huge. Very cool idea. So and then, and then it comes with the music. You can share the video. You can share the picture and we just launched it this morning. We already have, you know, it's going on on my page. We launched it with another partner TVF. Okay. So let's see how this works. Now there's something different. One of the things I've learned is not about the amount of money you're investing usually and usually if you have bigger budgets, you stop thinking. So you don't, you don't use a creative idea. You just try and just randomly throw money at it. Often creative ideas work better. That's amazing. That's, that's a very cool one. I can't wait to try it out. Let's come to you, Rajesh. All right. I think I guess you've been a content creator most of your life. From radio to theater to movies to writing to God knows television. Obviously. I've also written copy before I started acting. Wow. And that how is according to you, how is the entertainment landscape changing now and today when anybody and everybody can become a so-called star or a celebrity? Just, you know, I'm sure you've heard of the crying boy of Tiktok, right? There is a page on Facebook called Boys Who Cry Passionately on Tiktok. It's the shit, man. You have to see it. It's ridiculous. Especially if you're like at home and it's raining a lot out there. Just like sit and watch these young boys cry passionately. So entertainment landscape is completely changed just the way music landscape has changed completely. How do you as an industry veteran, how do you view this change? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it positive? Is it negative? How do you process this? So thanks for calling me a veteran. But I'm in the same age group as Amish's. Also I need to do the Ravan thing tomorrow because I have you on my breakfast show tomorrow morning for the book. I'm also going to click a selfie. That's what the influencers do. Selfie. Hey, I'm here just for the Instagram followers. Superb. There you are. I was at the airport. I was driving to Hyderabad or some place and I was at the crossword bookstore and I was asking the guy for a book and I see this man standing next to me. I see the bookstore guy reaching for his phone and looking at me with dastardly intent. Okay. And I say, wait a minute, wait a minute. And this man next to me, I click a photo with him. I say, sir, may I please bother you for a selfie? And he says, oh man, okay. And I click the selfie with him. He leaves and the guy was going to click the selfie with me. The crossword guy looks at me and says, who was that? That was Brian Lara, my brother. He has to click the selfie with Gol Mal. Brian Lara later. So, so yes. Yeah. I mean, so cricket is entertainment. It's the zenith of entertainment. Of course, the snake from Gol Mal is also very hissy. But you know, at many levels, entertainment has been dumbed down. Wow. You say, you think that. Absolutely. You think boys who cry. That's that's serious coming down of entertainment. But people love it. So they, you know, so, you know, theater has this whole big thing. It's like, for example, Naseer Bhai would say, don't play to the guy. No, Naseer Bhai, it is all about playing to the gallery at this point, especially when you're called an influencer on social media. If Divya, I don't know if you managed to get that photo, which I, okay. So there is a lady called Natalie Shatler or something. Okay. And she, her bio says influencer, DM for collabs on Instagram, et cetera. And she just put out a photo of herself standing by a paddy field in Vietnam with her back to the camera. And she says, oh my God, you know, I'm wondering what I have that these poor farmers don't. And she's in a bikini. She's in a bikini. So I'm saying becoming, and that is also entertainment. So the whole concept of entertainment has changed. So like I said, it's been dumbed down. It's become extremely simplistic. You know, and maybe to entertain all you need is serious guts, extremely pliable tear ducts as boys who cry on Tik Tok are approved, a phenomenal workout routine. And you know, I'm not being sexist here, but 82 shades of lipstick. So it's the whole, it's changed. It's entirely changed. I want to quickly come to you, Dino, for a reaction to what Rajesh said. I saw you looking at him intently because you are literally a part of this new wave of content creators. Dino James, Rajesh is an amazing rapper. He runs a fantastic YouTube channel. I did a lot of songs. Absolutely. No, but the heartbreak is something else. So what do you think, or how would you react to what he said about content dumbed down, anything is happening and everything is getting viral and things like that? Just one sec. I just want to say one thing. I'm saying that when you're speaking of Dino here or when you're speaking of the lady there, that is not part of that. They have something really to show for it. Sure, absolutely. Yeah, I think it's very temporary. I think it's very, very temporary. What is temporary? Whatever the stars and Instagram and temporary stars that you're talking about, from Instagram or TikTok and all. I think it's a wave that comes up for a little while and entertains you. Like I'm not saying it's good or bad. Like that girl who had her eyes on you and it was all over in India. And suddenly her followers gone from zero to... That was actually part of a movie trailer. Yeah, whatever, whatever. So basically, you know, this is not... Hello friends, Chai Pillow. All that, all that thing, whatever you're talking about. I think it's very temporary. This can't be actually, you know, like his talent. We see it from time to time. Correct. And that talent. Correct, correct. And that talent, talent. So I think that it's a part of entertainment that you really like. You forward it. You see it for whatever reason. But that can't be an entertainment for a longer time. So it's a wave. So I've got nothing against it because you can't stop it. This is what it is nowadays. And it's getting bigger also. Because people loving it. Correct. So you deny it or you love it. That is what it is. Sure. But as a talent, so you have to figure out what you can do. Not to get influenced with all these things. So I think I don't hate them. I don't love them. But you can't stop it. To each their own. So I want to come to you. We were having this conversation earlier. Of course, as content creators, you may like them, not like them. It's a completely subjective matter. The conversation changes there. The conversation stops when it comes to money. When brands are parking money behind these content creators. So-called content creators or just trash makers or whatever it is. And then they start lending their voice or their network to anything and everything. Right? I remember you said this. You gave this beautiful analogy about the knife. Is this making the environment or the marketing environment or social media a murkier, cloudier, dirtier place? Because you may not really know the ethics or the morality of the content creator and what they stand for and everything goes. So just to let you know what he was talking about the knife and he asked me about what do I think about influencers. I think influencers are like a knife. You can use a knife to cut vegetables, eat good food and be healthy. Or you can use it to kill somebody. So it's just that sometimes because of the influencers and if you get one of the wrong ones, you probably just land up paying the person for doing very bad work for you and promoting your work in a bad way. So I think if you identify your influencer properly, money is going to get involved everywhere you like it or not. It's the thing. When I thought I wanted to get into music and DJing, I thought it would be just fun going out to nightclubs and partying and then when I started seeing the money, I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, money, money, money. So it is going to happen. So there are going to be genuine influencers who will probably change their motto for the money. And you have to just be careful to identify that line that somebody might be doing good work for your influencer might really affect your product in a positive way. But if that influencer starts doing anything and everything, you as a brand or as a product should know to pull back from that influencer and go to somebody else. So yes, money is a big part of it. But I think you cannot disregard them for sure. I mean, they are influencers because what they say or they do, people believe them and you need them right now to be with you for your product or your brand. But I think it's just identifying the right one. Amish, do you think we are actually already seeing the wave turn of going with these influencers, who have millions of followers, who endorse everything from Chatti Banyan to Five Star Hotel. And France are increasingly getting exhausted and tired with it and are actually going to micro influencers, who may be 4,000 to 10,000 subscribers or followers. But the engagements and conversations they are having with their followers are extremely meaningful and very deep. Do you think we are already seeing that wave turn towards micro influencers? And the more learned and evolved brands ideally prefer that route rather than just numbers, reach, impressions. Look, clearly I'm asking you this specifically so people know because you've been a banker and a marketer. So I mean, there's that lens as well on you. The way I see it, marketing is not just about getting viewerships on your video. That means nothing. At the end of the day, it has to convert into sales. Again, building on what Suketu had said earlier that the entire conversation has been democratized because of the internet. And the internet has actually... But has it really? Has it really? Let me complete my point. Number one channel on YouTube is D-Series. It's establishment. Let me complete my point. Democratization did not turn out the way we thought it would be. One of the interesting things you've seen across all types of products including in books, it's like the hollowing out of the middle. Earlier, even the average guy would get average sales. So it's a very interesting play out of Aristotle's hollowing out of the middle. The middle are losing ground completely. Either someone gets everything or you only have the tail end. So like I can tell you in books, for example, the average bestseller would sell 10, 15, 20,000. Now you either have very few numbers selling millions or people selling absolutely nothing. Because on the internet, on your phone, on apps, it's not easy to browse. You go looking for something that you've heard of from your friends. And your friends will either hear completely niche things or people write at the top. From what I've heard, this is playing out not just in books, it's playing out in various other areas as well. So which means that brands have to be aware of this. The second thing that happens, democratization, the way I think it's playing out, is that the one way conversation is gone. It's a two way conversation. Which means whether you're a quote unquote influencer, I don't know what that word is supposed to imply. Influencer or a brand, whatever. If it's a two way conversation, you have to keep it real. Pretending to be something you're not is a load of bullshit. It's going to get you into trouble. If you are on social media every day and you're actually not a well-read person, but you're pretending to be, dude, I'm extremely well-read, it'll come out. Anyway, in anything that you do, if I pretend to be tech savvy, I'm not, I have no clue. I try my best to learn. So I should keep it real. I shouldn't pretend to be tech savvy when I'm not. You should be who you are. Some people will like you. Some people will not like you. That's cool. Tomorrow, if a big smartphone brand comes and says, Hey Amish, our new phone is coming. Please take our 30 second video on Instagram. Here's millions of rupees. If the pitch is so simple, if the pitch is that the phone is so well-designed and intuitive, that even then Amish can understand it. Yeah, okay. But the only brands like for example that I've endorsed are something like a Kindle, which I use. It's an obsessive reader. But there are many brands that I refuse to endorse. There is a real thing of money, man. I'm lucky my books earn money, so I don't have to do all this. It's very easy to stand on an IOS and say, everyone has to keep it real. There's a real thing of paying the bills at the end of the month also. One doesn't deny that pressure. But most influencers have to realize you keep it real. You cannot keep up an act for too long in the modern world. Just be who you are and realize some will like you, that's cool, boss. That's the way the world is. That's amazing. I want to start with Rajesh and take this question to each and every one of you. Name one thing that you saw any of your... Yes. That was for Rajesh. Name one thing that you guys saw on any of the... If he does 10 sit-ups, do we get 5 minutes more or... Are you sure? Amish, you should hear the interview now tomorrow. I'll start with push-ups. If you want to be an enemy, then cut out an enemy. If you want to be an enemy, then cut out an enemy. Okay. One of the things that you saw when you saw an influencer, or when you were talking about him, and then you actually ended up, you know, using or going and buying and seeking out that product or service or something like that. I don't know about a product or service, but something that I didn't buy but that I thought about very, very deeply. So there is an influencer on Twitter called Anak Desai. He's been a marketer, he's been a brand person, etc. Anak has also been a friend. Now Anak at one point was in a conversation about getting out of your comfort zone. And when I was offered this to host the breakfast show at Big FM. Now in my head, I'm saying to myself that, you know, I'm an actor. How am I going to do this? I have to wake up at 5.30 every morning, which is ridiculous. My son is also, well, almost three months old now and he keeps me up a large part of the night. I got into a conversation with Anak about this. And I did realize that one of the major things that I was thinking about was, am I okay getting out of my comfort zone, which is going to a film set, working for about 12 minutes through the day and the rest of it, you know, calling in for pizza and just having a blast. But I did. And I'm immensely enjoying myself. So that is something I did off some, a conversation that I was with, you know. So I don't, I do not off the top of my head. Remember if I bought anything. No, that counts. That counts. By the way, I've done that too. One year of breakfast show at Big FM. Oh, fantastic. Back in 2012. Yeah. We need to talk. Five in the morning, ridiculous. Do you know anything that you saw? No, I haven't actually bought anything from an influencer. No, nothing actually. Nothing that I could remember. Okay. You don't follow any street fashion bloggers. No. Your style could totally go as hashtag OOTD, man. Yeah. It was raining. So I was just wondering actually what to wear. So whatever, yeah. Nothing that I could remember. Okay. Amish. Firstly, what does hashtag OOTD mean? Hashtag outfit of the day. Oh. Bro. How the hell am I supposed to? Bro. I'm 44, man. Okay. No, I don't think I've ever fought anything based on what an influencer says. No, I mean, I'm not very brand conscious. So I just buy what feels to me. I'm probably asking the question to the wrong demographic. Dhwani, I'm sure you have like 10 things that you've like seen spotted. No, I don't really follow influencers that much. But you know, my skin was breaking out in the middle. So I saw these few Harper Bazaar videos wherein, you know, these actresses do have my sleep routine and stuff. So then I went and I bought those products and they actually worked. So. So then we're going to see your sleep routine video soon. Yeah. You have to ask Harper Bazaar to contact me first. Why do fans and followers say that show us how you get ready to go to bed? Yeah, dude. It's quite interesting, but. Homo sapiens, the smartest species on the planet. Show us how you get ready to go to bed. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, Ketu. Amish is like, this is happening on this planet. This is not the world of Kalpanic. Absolutely. Amish, yes. Yeah, bro. Yes. I'm not really following any influencer person, but I don't know if Dan Bilzerian is an influencer. Oh my God. How many people will know Dan Bilzerian? Of course all the men know Dan Bilzerian. So the thing is that I follow him and I used to really hate this DJ, Steve Ioki. I never liked his music, his performance or anything. And then I suddenly started following Dan Bilzerian and he's with him all the time. So I said, if this guy is following him and parting with him and going for his concert, something will happen. So I actually started listening to Steve Ioki's music a little bit more intently. And it's just to know that why is this guy, you know, just promoting this guy. So promoting Steve Ioki. So not a product per se, but yeah, at least I started listening to an artist which I'd never liked before. Wow. Just because of this. So yeah, I would say that I do get influenced by certain people. Dan Bilzerian ka kisi ke life pe kuch positive impact hua. Ye sunke matlab. Rona a raha hai mujhe. Dan Bilzerian is the most obnoxious playboy millionaire in the world on Instagram. Just so you guys know who we are talking about. Are you kidding me? Of course I am. Of course I am. All right. Let's actually go to the audience and try and see if you guys have any questions. If you want any of these people to follow you on Instagram, you can just like shout that out as well. But totally up to you guys kuch pushna hai toh. Seriously, sab so gaya hai kya? I know we are like the post lunch session, but nothing, absolutely nothing to... Okay, I'm gonna do a round of who according to you guys, apart from yourself, one quick reko of who do y'all think people in the room should follow. On whichever social media, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Tiktok. Jis se, inka kuch bhala hoega. Not Dan Bilzerian. It's okay tu. Or Dan Bilzerian. Usse bhi bhala ho sakta hai. Quickly, let's start with you, Rajesh. Haan, yaala. Hamara nehta, Rajesh sir ji. Ari yaar, wo toh... Achha, achha. Okay, take the mic. Take the mic and at least... We will recommend just each of us collectively. Amazing. Five people. That's exactly how a political system works. This is called Union Bazi. That's how Union Parliament works as well. Okay, just shout out your social media that you'd like people to follow. Rajesh, I think it's an underscore, Hirji. I think it's an underscore. But it's Rajesh Hirji. You'll find it. Okay, on Instagram. But also know, so for example, I'll tell you something very strange that happened with me since you were asking about, you know, an influencer that I've seen hocking something and have I bought it or not. So there is a friend of mine who is an influencer, a television actress who I follow on Instagram and she was pushing this hotel somewhere in Mahabalesha or whatever which she had gone to. And I didn't land up going there. I went to a hotel which competes with them and I was very happy. So yeah, just saying. That happens too. Okay, Rajesh Hirji on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah, it's D-I-N-O-J-M-S. Perfect. D-I-N-O-J-M-S. Yeah. Perfect. Mine's simple at the rate, author, Amish. AMIH, yeah. Or Twitter, Instagram, Facebook everywhere. Superb. I'm not on TikTok, no. So disappointing. I wanna see crying videos of you, Amish. Hang on, hang on. I should clarify that. I've been told my agency has created an account for me on TikTok. I haven't used it. Oh my God. I don't intend to. Funny. Me, Instagram is Dvani Bhanushali 22. Why are you so shy about it? I was actually asking them to follow me. But why 22? I am 21, but my birthday is 22nd March. Are you sure? Okay, too good. Fantastic. What's Instagram? Well, my Instagram handle is DJ Sukethu. Twitter is DJ Sukethu. Facebook is DJ Sukethu. But I think you guys should follow Dan Bilzer. You can see that. And I am a gadget one on Instagram. In case you guys, most of you all just write to me saying, sir, that's my life. I go on a date. That's my life. That's my life. Anyway, thank you so much for being such a lovely audience. And thank you so much to the panelists. Sukethu, Dvani, Amish, Dino and Rajesh. Thank you. What a fantastic panel discussion. Thank you, Ankit. You really put life into this. You know, for our photographers, I want you to just move inside a photographer. He was... Please do follow Rajesh's show. Rajesh has so much of Sam's poison tomorrow morning. So he's going to give it back to Anish. Oh, boy. This is incredible. What a session. This is really lighting up, bro. Thank you very much for this. And thank you, Anish. Anish has a show on Instagram. How to use Instagram in a different way. Sorry. Right, Anish? Oh, boy. This is incredible. All right. We've got a token of appreciation. May I request Vice President Brown and Communications, Inox Leisure Limited. Let's welcome Shalini Gupta on the stage to give a token of appreciation to our fantastic panel. Ladies and gentlemen, token of appreciation for a very, very special panel. Guys, Okay. Give us two minutes because there's a little bit of social media. We're all social media influencers. So we need to do that here. Hang on. All right. This is a really nice one. Thank you. All right, guys. Dhwani, you need to be on the stage. We've got a token of appreciation. Thank you. It's okay. Brilliant. Anish, we want you to be on the stage once, please. Oh, boy. This is brilliant.