Abhiraj and Niyati: Generating impact with content

Image: Arpit Jain for Forbes India

Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha | 27
Niyati Mavinkurve | 29
Digital content creators

In 2019, Abhiraj (Abhi) and Niyati (Niyu) decided to take a break from their 9-5 jobs to explore the country like nobody had done before.

“Unlike other travelogues, we wanted to find stories from places where people don't look to find any,” says Abhi, explaining that they wanted to find and encourage social good in India. This led to their breakout video ‘100 reasons to love India’ that marked the beginning of their content creation careers. Before that, Niyu was a chartered accountant turned freelance content writer, while her husband Abhi was an advertising video producer who wanted more creative autonomy.

In over a year, Abhi & Niyu have gained over 1.16 million subscribers on YouTube with over a million views on most of their videos, as well as over 1.5 million followers on Instagram. According to Abhi, the duo measure the effectiveness of their efforts by the amount of impactful action generated as a result of their content.

"It's not so difficult to succeed on social media when you pander to the weaknesses of people, but to be social media stars while being change makers, making videos that shake you, move you and motivate you to be better are rare,” says Sonam Wangchuk, an innovator and education reformist. Talking about the social impact Abhi and Niyu create with their videos, he says, “I first noticed and admired Abhi and Niyu when I saw their video about plastic pollution in Ladakh, explaining how to be better travellers in the mountains. Since then, they have made many videos that educate and inspire people, particularly the youth, to make the nation and the world a better place.”