India In 2023: 'Looking Like A Wow'

'An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world.'

2023 was India's coming out party, going by what dominated the headlines and found popularity.

Capturing people's imagination in the year was the successful Chandrayaan mission, the G20 event in New Delhi, India's medal haul at the Asian Games, the successful hosting of the World Cup, and the stature of Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi.

This was also the year of comeback kings, with Shah Rukh Khan rekindling his career and, in the process, reviving the Hindi box office, and Virat Kohli emerging as the player of the tournament to take India to the final of the World Cup.

Balancing the comeback kings were the new stars on the horizon: The burgeoning electric vehicles, the Artificial Intelligence generation, quick commerce, and the new golden boy of Indian cricket, Shubman Gill.

These are some of the inferences drawn from the 'hits of the year' survey by advertising agency Rediffusion, shared exclusively with Business Standard.

"An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world," said Sandeep Goyal, chairman, Rediffusion.

A 'hit' can be an event, a personality, a trend, technology, or just a popular word -- anything that found fame and gained mass acceptance.

The survey was conducted by Red Lab, the consumer insights think-tank at Rediffusion.

Its team sat down to list all the things that ‘drove’ or inspired India in 2023.

The researchers scanned all the news and newsmakers through the year, creating a long list of 130 possible hits.

This long list was reviewed by an expert panel of thought leaders, culture czars, and business captains, who distilled it down to 35.

This shortlist was put to a popular poll among 2,078 respondents across India between end-November and early December to arrive at the Top 20.

The respondents were in the 18 to 45 age group, 56 percent of them male and the rest female.

This is the first full-fledged hits of the year survey by Rediffusion.

It started last year as a limited pilot and, therefore, comparisons with 2022 will not tell the whole story.

The story this year is riveting, not least because the survey captures the story of India returning to its roots.

For instance, millet, the group of food grains that India is promoting, was one of the hits. So was domestic tourism.

But it was Chandrayaan that stole the show.

"Chandrayaan is seen by most Indians as a 'victory' for India, especially after the previous attempt failed. Last time when things didn't quite work out, there was a general feeling of 'loss of face'. The redemption this time is being celebrated for India being seen as a genuine superpower. Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahin," said Goyal.

Khan and Kohli's comebacks were also seen as stories of redemption, with the actor reinventing himself as an action hero after an abysmal few years and the cricketer silencing his detractors.

Interestingly, while Kohli had a high share of votes among men but just average among women, Gill found more supporters among women, who scored him better on looks than on his game.

The list of redemption does not include Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who did make it to the shortlist of Top 35, riding on his Bharat Jodo Yatra, but did not garner enough votes to make the Top 20.

The only other politician in the Top 20 is Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra, who, despite being expelled from the Lok Sabha and battling a defamation case, stood her ground and made an impression in the media for being a formidable Opposition leader.

Naatu Naatu provided the pan-India flavour for earning global recognition and deep fake loomed as a new threat.

The social media surprise hit was the passionate boutique owner, New Delhi's Jasmeen Kaur, making a pitch for her latest collection with the Instagram sensation, 'looking like a wow'.

That is what a lot of people were saying about India this year.