Like, share, subscribe: Meet the five women dominating India’s YouTube scene

Think being a YouTuber is all fun and games? Think again. There’s much more to succeeding on YouTube than just looking good and uploading a video of yourself saying something funny or serious. Especially when you have people constantly asking you, “But what’s your real job?”

Being a YouTuber in itself is taking the road less travelled; you’re either trying to make some extra money through ads and brand deals, or a full-time career out of it, and are also looking for recognition - as is the case for many women in India. From makeup tutorials, cooking recipes to comedy and much more, they are doing it all.

We take a look at these five women who have the highest subscriber base and viewership count in India, here to show you that being a YouTuber can be a very rewarding career, never mind the hard work behind it.

We take a look at these five women who have the highest subscriber base and viewership count in India, and are here to show you that being a YouTuber can be a very rewarding career, never mind the hard work behind it.

Also read: “With 5 fanfests in a month, India is Youtube’s favorite pitstop” - Entertainment Head Satya Raghavan

Nisha Madhulika, Chef

Fondly referred to as 'Nisha auntyji' by her 6.7 million-and-growing subscriber base, 60-year-old Nisha Madhulika has churned out over 1,300 vegetarian recipe videos since 2011, and currently has more than 1.2 billion lifetime views on her channel. Nisha makes sure to keep her uploads consistent, especially during festivals, when millions across the country look out for special recipes.

Kabita Singh, Chef (Kabita’s Kitchen)

For many women, raising a family means the end of their professional careers. But for Kabita Singh, it meant the start of one - her cooking channel, ‘Kabita’s Kitchen.’ Kabita works around her son’s schedule, which means all her filming and editing happens late at night.

She currently has over 600 videos, over 4.3 million subscribers, and more than 680 million lifetime views on her channel, clearly reflecting all the effort she puts in! Kabita also has two side channels - one for quick recipes, and the other for vlogs that give viewers a peek into her life outside cooking.

Prajakta Koli, Creator (mostlysane)

Popularly known as ‘mostlysane’, 25-year-old Prajakta Koli started out as a radio jockey in Mumbai, but decided to give YouTube a try after realising that the profession didn’t exactly give her the freedom she expected it to.

Signed to content creation platform One Digital Entertainment, Prajakta has racked up a subscriber base of over a whopping 3.4 million, has a lifetime viewership count of more than 350 million, and 500+ videos on her channel. Her humorous, relatable and socially conscious content has her young audience constantly engaged.

Also read: It is important for you to be ‘you’, says YouTube influencer Prajakta Koli

Shruti Arjun Anand, Entertainer & Beauty Guru

Since her first video that was recorded on a simple point-and-shoot camera just for fun back in 2012, Shruti Arjun Anand’s career as a YouTuber has grown astronomically. With a supportive family that makes appearances in her videos that are peppered with comedy skits, Shruti has garnered a huge following over the years. She currently has over 3.4 million subscribers, more than 520 million lifetime views, and 700+ videos. Her unique ‘beauty with a twist’ style of videos is what keeps her audience hooked.

Sonali Bhadauria, Dancer (LiveToDance)

Sonali Bhadauria always aspired to be a dancer since she was a child, but never got the right platform to express herself. She worked at Infosys as a software engineer for a while, and finally found a dance team there that she could shake a leg with. She gradually made up her mind to pursue dance full time and resigned from her job, giving rise to her career on YouTube. Today, she has nearly 1.7 million subscribers, and over 230 million lifetime views. With more than a hundred uploads on her channel, viewers love her enthusiasm to keep dance alive.

Also read: 13 and counting: milestones from the YouTube journey