Prajakta Koli (pronounced[pɾaːdʑakˈtaːkoɭiː]; born 27 June 1993), known for her YouTube Channel MostlySane, is an Indian YouTuber and actress who makes comedy videos. Her videos are focused mostly on observational comedy related to daily life situations.[1] She is also known for her lead role in the Netflix romantic drama Mismatched.
Her father Manoj Koli is a real-estate businessman turned restaurateur and her mother Archana Koli is a phonetics and language teacher.[5]
In 2011, Koli started dating Vrishank Khanal, a lawyer by profession.[6] The two announced their engagement on 17 September 2023.[7]
Career
Early career
Koli began her media career as an intern at Fever 104 FM radio station in Mumbai. After interning for a year, she was given the opportunity to run her first show, Call Centre. She quit the radio channel after the shows commercial failure. While working as an intern, Koli met Sudeep Lahiri - future One Digital Entertainment VP Content and Strategy, who encouraged her to launch a comedy YouTube channel.[3][4]
YouTube channel
Prajakta launched her channel MostlySane in February 2015.[3][4]
She performed at the YouTube FanFest in Delhi in 2018 and in Mumbai in 2019.[8] She hosted the event in Singapore in 2022 and in Mumbai in 2023.[9][10]
In April 2019, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki selected Prajakta Koli's "Real Talk Tuesday" series as the interview platform for her first-ever interaction with an Indian YouTuber. The discussion doubled as an opportunity for Susan to discuss YouTube's future plans for creators and also introduced the launch of YouTube Music.[12]
In March 2019, Prajakta hosted a Real Talk Tuesday conversation with Hollywood stars Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson in which their upcoming film Captain Marvel was discussed where they shared personal stories about their individual journeys to success.[13]
In April 2022, she interviewed Sadhguru and discussed the challenges of soil extinction and what the world's youth can do to conserve soil resources.[14]
In March 2023, Koli interviewed with actors Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston on their film collaboration - Murder Mystery 2 and shared anecdotes from their experiences in the entertainment industry.[15]
Acting career
In July 2020, Koli released a short film, Khayali Pulao, about female empowerment in rural Haryana.[16] She then acted in the Netflix series Mismatched, released in November 2020.[17]
In December 2018, she was in one out of three national TV commercials launched for the WhatsApp campaign - 'Share Joy, Not Rumours' which was targeted towards user awareness on tackling misinformation on the social media application.[28][29]
Media
In February 2019 she was part of Forbes' list of 30 under 30 and in Outlook Business Magazine's list of Women of Worth[30] and Entrepreneur India's list of 35 under 35[31] along with winning Cosmopolitan's YouTuber of the Year award.[32]
In January 2020, she was included in the annual "Cool list" of the gossip magazine Grazia India,[33] and in April 2020 she was featured on the cover of the magazine BW Businessworld as part of their Most Influential Women's list.[34]
She was presented an award by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner of Canada in India, in recognition of her helping women's causes during International Women's Day in March 2022.[35]
In June 2022, she was awarded the "Star Influencer Award" by Femina India.[36]
In 2018, Prajakta was invited to the United Nations headquarters in New York city on the occasion of International Day of Tolerance, as an ambassador for YouTube's global initiative, Creators for Change program.[39] Her presence at the international event aimed to showcase her project titled 'No Offence' which dealt with topics such as hate speech, sexism, and homophobia.[40] Later in 2018, she participated in the #GirlsCount campaign for One.Org which dealt with the importance of girl's education.[41]
In September 2019, she traveled to the UN Headquarters in New York as a delegate to participate in the International Day of Tolerance and for the Goalkeepers program – an initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[42] She has also been appointed as a new member to the 2022-24 Goalkeepers Advisory Group which aims to encourage advancement toward global goals.[43]
2020–2021
In a special episode of Creators For Change in 2020, Koli and two other YouTube content creators, Liza Koshy and Thembe Mahlaba, interviewed girls in different countries about their opportunities for education, and discussed the topic with Michelle Obama.[44][40]
Prajakta represented India at The Call To Unite event which started on 1 May 2020 and featured Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Alanis Morissette, Quincy Jones and Mandy Moore among others.[45] The 24 hour 'streamathon' event was organized by UNITE and Room To Read in support of people facing challenges during the pandemic and to promote education among children during the COVID-19 pandemic.[46][47] On 7 June 2020, Koli was a part of the virtual graduation ceremony, Dear Class of 2020, headlined by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama which was live streamed via YouTube Originals.[48] The event which was organized by YouTube, gave a farewell to graduating students who were not able to get a traditional, physical farewell due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.[49]
On 30 October 2021, Koli made a contribution to TED's campaign called 'Countdown,' which focused on addressing the issue of climate change.[50] As one of the hosts of the event, she collaborated with other personalities such as Al Gore, Chris Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra, Mark Ruffalo, and Don Cheadle, in discussions and initiatives centered around climate change awareness.[51]
2022–present
Prajakta Koli attending WEF 2023 at Davos
In January 2022, she was appointed as UNDP India's first Youth Climate Champion.[52] The title of Youth Climate Champion entails the responsibility of interacting with young minds to create awareness on the adverse impacts of climate change, global warming and biodiversity loss.[53]
In January 2023, Prajakta attended the World Economic Forum held in Davos.[54] As one of the six content creators invited globally for the event,[55] Prajakta participated in discussions centered around critical themes such as climate action, social justice, and global healthcare.[56] In March 2023, the National Commission for Women with Netflix hosted a special event on the role of entertainment and media in empowering women, on the occasion of International Women's Day.[57][58] Prajakta was part of the panel discussions which brought together personalities from across the entertainment industry, non governmental organizations, academia, female actors and directors to share their point of views on the importance of shaping the public narrative aimed at women empowerment.[59]
.jpg)
