Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is accused of firing a semiautomatic rifle at the singer’s Los Angeles mansion at 13:15 local time (21:15 GMT) on Sunday.

No one was injured in the shooting. Ortiz is being held on bail set at $1.875m (£1.395m), facing a possible life sentence.

Police are investigating the motive for the attack that took place while Rihanna and her rapper partner A$AP Rocky were at the home, the CBS reports.

Ortiz has been accused of driving up to the front of the house and firing the weapon multiple times at it, before fleeing.

Her white Tesla was located about eight miles (12km) from the singer’s home at the Sherman Oaks Galleria shopping centre, where the woman was taken into custody.

“Opening fire in any populated neighbourhood is extremely dangerous, puts lives at risk and will be fully prosecuted,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.

Prosecutors noted that there were people in Rihanna’s home as well as the property adjacent to it at the time of the shooting.

“This careless violence will not be tolerated in our community. Such shooters will find their next destination to be our jails and prisons,” Hochman added.

Ortiz faces multiple other charges including ten felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three felony counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper.

According to CBS, the LAPD has found a series of posts on her social media mentioning Rihanna.

In one post on X, Ortiz wrote: “Are you there? … say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I’m not at.”

Video from the singer’s address shows suitcases being wheeled away on the day after the shooting.

The Barbados-born celebrity, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, rose to prominence in the 2000s with hits like Pon de Replay and Umbrella.

She shares three children with partner A$AP Rocky, who last February was found not guilty of firing a gun at a former friend, in a trial that saw Rihanna bring her two sons to court.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to reports of gunfire at 13:15 local time (21:15 GMT) on Sunday. A suspect was located and taken into custody.

A police official told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that the home targeted belonged to Rihanna and that assault rifle casings were found at the scene.

No one was injured in the incident. Rihanna was in the mansion at the time, a law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times.

Police say the suspect, a woman in her 30s, stopped in a car outside the home and fired seven shots before speeding away.

Her vehicle was located about eight miles (12km) away from the singer’s home, where the woman was taken into custody. She has not yet been publicly identified.

Last September the star gave birth to her third child, a girl, with partner A$AP Rocky.

The couple, who also share two sons Riot and RZA, announced Rihanna’s latest pregnancy at last year’s Met Gala.

The couple’s baby news was not the first time they made headlines in 2025. In February, A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of firing a gun at a former friend, in a trial that saw Rihanna bring her two sons to court.

The Barbados-born celebrity, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, shot to prominence in the early 2000s with hits like Pon de Replay and Umbrella. She recently celebrated 20 years since the release of her first album.

During that time, Rihanna has launched multiple businesses, including her popular makeup range Fenty Beauty and a lingerie company. The 37-year-old’s net worth has been estimated by Forbes at over a billion dollars

The singer was arrested by the California Highway Patrol at around 21:30 PT (05:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

She was released in the early hours of Thursday morning and is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on 4 May.

The reason for the singer’s arrest was confirmed to CBS, by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in Southern California.

A representative for Spears told BBC News: “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable.

“Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.

“Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”

The pop star appeared to have deleted her Instagram account on Thursday as news of her arrest broke.

Spears is one of the most successful pop stars in music history, with hits such as Toxic, Everytime, Gimme More, Womanizer, Stronger and Baby One More Time.

The singer said in January 2024 that she would “never return to the music industry”. Her last song was a duet released with Elton John in 2022.

However, in a since deleted social media post from earlier this year, Spears indicated that, although she would not perform in the US again, she was hoping to play live in the UK and Australia in the near future.

For 13 years until 2021, Spears was in a conservatorship – a legal guardianship that saw her finances and personal life controlled by her father.

The singer published her memoir in 2023 titled The Woman in Me, which saw her reflect on her career and detail her struggles living under the conservatorship.

Her ex-husband Kevin Federline released his own memoir, You Thought You Knew, at the end of 2025.

Their daughter, referred to as Child A, was stabbed more than 30 times on 29 July by then-17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, in an attack that killed three young girls.

On Thursday the family’s local MP Paul Foster (South Ribble) read a statement from them in a Commons debate on knife crime.

He said Child A’s parents praised tougher knife crime laws but said work to tackle the problem needed to begin with educating children.

They added “counter messaging” aimed at young people was needed to oppose what they were being exposed to online.

The parents criticised Mr Tate’s effect on teenagers and praised Netflix drama Adolescence for exploring the topic of misogynistic radicalisation.

Rudakubana wiped much of his internet search history before the attack and it is not known whether he ever viewed material linked to Mr Tate.

However Cambridge Crown Court this month heard how triple murderer Kyle Clifford viewed Andrew Tate videos before shooting his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt and her sister Hannah with a crossbow and stabbing their mother Carol Hunt.

“The work required is vast and complex,” the statement read to the Commons said.

“Long term reduction in knife crime will only be seen if we go back to the start and raise our children better.”

Alice Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe died during the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop at a studio in the Merseyside town.

Rudakubana was jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the murders, along with the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.

Child A’s family said: “It is sensible to make it harder to purchase knives [and] to tighten the law carrying knives. These are tangible solutions that provide a quick reassurance and results.

“But, if a young person is looking for a knife, then we are too late, and they are already on the path to causing harm.”

The family said the upcoming public inquiry into the Southport attacks would “serve the purpose” of improving things for parents, caregivers and school-leavers.

Mr Foster told the Commons: “I commend that child’s parents for having the courage to write that, and the concern that they have clearly that this is going to happen again.

“I urge all members of this House to please work together for the victims, for the families, and let’s please deal with this once and for all.”

Scrolling through Twitter for information about the band’s solo projects, she saw a reply that said “Listen to Icy by Itzy”.

Intrigued, she clicked on the link. It changed her life.

“I’d never listened to K-Pop before that point but I immediately became a fan,” she says.

“And now Itzy is the reason I have my job.”

Today, Clare is the marketing and social media manager for K-Stars, the UK’s first and biggest shop devoted to Korean pop music.

Based in Manchester, it started as a small business in Manchester’s Affleck’s Palace in 2019.

“You’d order things by PayPal, and then the CEO would pack them up by himself and ship everything out,” Clare recalls.

Now it’s a two-storey emporium, based on Deansgate, with a staff of more than 20 dedicated K-Pop enthusiasts.

It’s a sign of how the genre has exploded in the UK, even though radio and television has largely shunned all but the biggest acts, like BTS, aespa and Blackpink.

“It’s still kind of a niche – but it’s not a small niche,” says Clare. “In my head I’m the only Itzy fan, but when I went to see them in concert, it was sold out.

“I was like, ‘Wow, where have all you people been hiding?'”

In fact, the UK is now among the top 10 countries that follow K-Pop on Spotify, with the boyband Ateez placing two records in the top five of the UK album charts last year.

This summer, Blackpink will play two nights at Wembley Stadium, with Stray Kids pulling off the same feat in Tottenham.

Meanwhile, Twickenham Stadium will say “anyong haseyo” to one of K-pop’s longest-running festivals.

Established in 2008, the SM Town Live festival is a showcase for artists signed to the SM Entertainment Label, one of the industry’s key players.

To celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary, they’re transplanting the event from Seoul to Middlesex.

“It’s essentially a multi-day festival all in one, because you’ve got so many artists all at the same venue, jam packed into the space of three or four hours,” says Reese Carter, of boyband Dear Alice, who’ll be among the performers in Twickenham.

“It’s non-stop. You’ve got to prep yourself, because you’ll definitely want to dance.”

“It’s very down to earth but it goes straight to your heart,” adds Ten from K-Pop group WayV.

SM holds a unique place in Korea’s musical history. Founded in 1995 by Lee Soo-man, it is widely credited with establishing the K-Pop template.

It was the first company to introduce the trainee system, where young talent goes through intensive training that lasts months, or even years, before making their “debut”.

And it dominated what’s known as the “first generation” of K-Pop idols, with bands like H.O.T. and S.E.S.

The Twickenham show will pay tribute to that three-decade journey, with a line-up that includes everyone from Red Velvet, EXO and Girl’s Generation to current chart-toppers like aespa, Riize and all of the sub-units of boyband NCT – which boasts more than 20 members.

“That’s very rare,” says Ten, one of the group’s most recognisable (and chatty) stars.

“The last time we had an NCT concert as a whole was two years ago. It’s so difficult to schedule every group to be in the same spot at the same time.”

But that’s not all. The concert will also feature what’s been billed as “a group of promising trainees”, known for now as SMTR25 – showcasing the future of the label.

“Performing alongside the senior artists we’ve admired since our trainee days, as well as our talented junior artists, makes this an incredibly meaningful experience for us,” said aespa in an email to the BBC.

The hope is that shows like this will open a few doors – because, for all the strides K-Pop has made in the last couple of years, bands have consistently prioritised America over Europe.

It’s a logical step. The US is the world’s biggest music market, so it offers more opportunities for touring and merchandise sales, while an MTV Award performance or a concert for NPR’s Tiny Desk series travels further internationally than an appearance at the Brit Awards.

“The situation here isn’t as good as what the American industry gets,” acknowledges Amber Clare.

“Every single K-Pop group, if they announce a world tour, America will always be on the map – but European countries are always left wondering if they’re going to be included or not.”

Things are changing, though.

In a crowded market, labels are increasingly turning their attention to the UK – where the anglophone media has international reach, and there’s a baked-in affection for boy and girl groups like Take That, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and Little Mix.

To make inroads, bands have teamed up with some of Britain’s biggest artists.

Aespa’s 2023 single Better Things was co-written by Raye, while Le Sserafim collaborated with PinkPantheress on club anthem Crazy and with Jungle on their latest song, Come Over.

Last year, SM went one further – creating a British boyband and putting them through the K-Pop machinery.

That group was Dear Alice, whose gruelling traineeship was documented in BBC series Made In Korea.

Having survived the process, the five-piece finally premiered their debut single, Ariana, at a massive SM Town concert in Seoul in January.

“These shows are timed down to the second,” says singer Blaise Noon. “When we got our time to go on stage, it was literally like, 8:30 and 48 seconds. It just shows how so well thought out is.”

Bringing the production to London is evidence that SM has its sights trained on the UK, he confirms.

“In the UK, we produce some really amazing boy groups, so I think we have that connection in the culture. So I think they definitely want to hit it. I can see it getting bigger and bigger every day.”

Ten, who releases a new solo album, Stunner, next week, says he’s already experienced the devotion of UK fans.

When his group WayV last visited England in 2023, “we were surprised that people could sing along to our songs, because we sing in Chinese”, he says.

“This opportunity with SM Town, I feel like it’s going to open a bigger market for K-Pop in the UK.

“I hope so, because I’d like to come and perform my solo stuff to my UK fans too.”

The opportunity is there.

Nine of the 10 best-selling albums in the world last year were by South Korean artists, illustrating the music’s broad appeal – but none of those records charted in the UK’s Top 50.

Lack of radio exposure is one factor – but listeners can also be put off by clunky English lyrics or the sudden-but-deliberate stylistic shifts that characterise K-Pop.

If you’re willing to dig into the genre, though, you can find some of the most audacious and indelible hooks music has to offer.

One by-product of K-pop’s (relative) obscurity is the bond it creates among fans. There’s a sense of belonging that comes from discovering and nurturing your “bias”, outside the glare of the mainstream.

It’s a relationship bands foster by a fire hose stream of social media content, where dance challenges, video diaries and photoshoots are posted daily.

Dear Alice experienced the impact of that effort at a UK meet-and-greet last weekend.

“It felt like we were hanging out with a bunch of our mates,” says Dexter Greenwood.

“They were just cool people,” adds James Sharp. “We’re starting to recognise faces and remember people on this journey – and I think there’s going to be more and more.”

By the time they play Twickenham in June, the group promise to have more new music to showcase.

In the meantime, though, they want to introduce their labelmates to some of the UK’s finer customs.

“We’ve got to order a bunch of Greggs for the SM family,” says Noon.

“A whole banquet of sausage rolls.”

Known as a “chubby filter”, the artificial intelligence (AI) tool took a photo of a person and edited their appearance to look as though they had put on weight.

Many people have shared their “before and after” images on the platform with jokes about how different they looked – however, others said it was a form of “body shaming” and should not be permitted.

Experts have also warned the filter could fuel a “toxic diet culture” online and potentially contribute to eating disorders.

TikTok said the filter had been uploaded by a CapCut, which is separate to TikTok but has the same parent company, ByteDance.

TikTok also told the BBC it was reviewing videos uploaded to the app that used the effect, and was making them ineligible for recommendation and blocking them from teen accounts.

It added any videos that breached its community guidelines – for example by featuring bullying or harassment – would be removed.

Sadie, who has 66,000 followers on TikTok, had been one of those calling for the “mean” filter to be banned.

“It felt like girls being like, ‘oh, I’ve won because I’m skinny and wouldn’t it be the worst thing ever to be fat’,” the 29-year-old from Bristol said.

She said she was contacted by women who said they had deleted TikTok from their phones because the trend made them feel bad about themselves.

“I just don’t feel like people should be ridiculed for their body just for opening an app,” she said in comments made before the tool was pulled.

Dr Emma Beckett, a food and nutrition scientist, told the BBC she felt the trend was “a huge step backwards” in terms weight stigma.

“It’s just the same old false stereotypes and tropes about people in larger bodies being lazy and flawed, and something to be desperately avoided,” she said.

She warned that could have a broad social effect.

“The fear of weight gain contributes to eating disorders and body dissatisfaction, it fuels toxic diet culture, making people obsess over food and exercise in unhealthy ways and opening them up to scam products and fad diets.”

Prior to the app being pulled, the BBC spoke to a number of TikTok users who said they were uncomfortable with the filter.

Nina, who lives in north Wales, said she felt it fed into a “narrative” being spread online tying together people’s appearance with their self-worth.

“This is a toxic view that I thought we were moving away from,” she said.

“If a filter is clearly offensive it should be removed,” she told the BBC.

Emma, who lives in Ayr, agreed.

“My first thought when I saw the ‘chubby filter’ was how damaging that would be.

“People were basically saying they looked disgusting because they were ‘chubby’ and as a curvier woman, who essentially looks like the “after” photo on this filter, it was disheartening for me.”

The court said the band, which had renamed themselves NJZ and began organising their own appearances, must not conduct any independent activities – from making music to signing advertising deals.

Earlier last year, NewJeans said that they were leaving Ador, after accusing them of mistreatment. Ador subsequently sued to have NewJeans’ contracts upheld and, after accusing the group of trying to sign independent deals without its approval, filed an injunction against them in January.

The group has said that they will challenge Friday’s decision.

The court’s ruling casts some uncertainty around the release of the group’s new song, slated for Sunday.

It also means they will now face difficulty re-debuting under their new name, NJZ, without facing severe financial penalties for breach of contract.

NewJeans and Ador have been embroiled in a dramatic dispute since August 2024, when Hybe, the parent company of Ador, allegedly forced out NewJeans’ mentor, Min Hee-Jin.

The band issued an ultimatum demanding that Min should be restored – and, when Hybe refused, went public with a number of complaints against the label, including the claim it had deliberately undermined their careers.

One of the group’s members, Hanni, also alleged that she suffered workplace harassment while working with the label.

In a press conference in November, NewJeans announced their departure from the company, saying Hybe and Ador had lost the right to represent them as artists.

On Friday, the Seoul court ruled that NewJeans’ claims did not “sufficiently prove that Ador violated their significant duty as part of their contract”, adding that the music label had upheld “most of its duty including payment”.

“If [NewJeans] unilaterally terminate the contract, Ador would suffer greatly. And if [NewJeans] begins activity under a new name, it could severely damage not only the brand of NewJeans but the reputation of Ador,” the court’s statement reads.

The group says they respect the ruling but has argued that they did not have sufficient opportunity to fully present their case to the court.

“We plan to challenge today’s decision… during which we will raise additional legal issues and submit further supporting evidence,” they responded in a statement just hours after the ruling.

“Regardless… we can no longer remain with a management that has disrespected our identities and undermined our achievements.”

A lawsuit regarding the validity of the two parties’ contract termination is still underway.

The five band members – Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein – have over the past few months continued to assert their independence, creating a new Instagram account under the name “jeanzforfree”.

They have also said they would fight to keep their name, and their career, and would remain “NewJeans at heart” even if they lost the fight against Ador.

NewJeans were considered one of the brightest new bands in K-Pop, thanks to a playful blend of 1990s R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies.

In 2023, they were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world. Last year, they picked up a nomination for best group at the MTV Awards.

The couple were found dead in their New Mexico home last month with officials saying the pair had been dead for some time before they were discovered by neighbourhood security.

Officials initially said they believed Arakawa died on 11 February and Hackman died one week later.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office now says they have confirmed that Arakawa made multiple calls to a health clinic on 12 February for medical treatment, which the clinic told BBC she never was able to received.

The sheriff’s office said they learned of the calls when they received cell phone data from her phone.

They said there were three calls made that morning to Cloudberry Health, a personalized concierge medical practice in the area. She received a fourth call, also from the clinic.

The sheriff’s office noted it never reported an official date of death for her and said that initially they’d stated that Arakawa’s last known activity was on 11 February. Authorities say she’d exchanged emails with a massage therapist and visited a grocery store, pharmacy and a pet store. Garage clicker data showed she returned home around 5:15 p.m. that day.

Dr Josiah Child, who leads Cloudberry Health, told the BBC that while the clinic had never treated Hackman or Arakawa, she had reached out for medical advice.

“She called and described some congestion but didn’t mention any respiratory distress, shortness of breath, or chest pain,” he said.

Arakawa initially had scheduled an appointment for 12 February but cancelled on 10 February, explaining that she needed to care for her husband, Dr Child said.

On the morning of 12 February, she called again seeking treatment but because no doctor-patient relationship had been established, the clinic told her she needed to be seen in person.

“There were a couple calls back and forth to just schedule that appointment for the afternoon, but she never showed up,” Dr Child explained. “Our office called back several times and never got an answer.”

The couple were both found dead on 26 February.

Chief Medical Investigator Dr. Heather Jarrell stated that “based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that [Betsy] passed away first.”

The Santa Fe medical examiner determined she died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne respiratory disease.

Authorities believe Hackman died on 18 February – the date of his last recorded pacemaker activity, which showed an abnormal rhythm of atrial fibrillation.

His cause of death was severe heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s disease listed as a contributing factor. Experts believe his Alzheimer’s may have prevented him from realising his wife of more than 30 years was dead in the home where he was living.

If he did, experts told the BBC, he likely went through various stages of confusion and grief, trying to wake her up before the disease caused him to become distracted or too overwhelmed to act – a process that likely repeated for days before he, too, died.

A necropsy report also revealed that one of the couple’s three dogs, which had been crated while recovering from surgery, died from starvation and dehydration.

As the investigation continues, representatives for Hackman and Arakawa’s estate have taken legal action to block the release of body camera footage and other visual evidence from their home when their remains were discovered.

A New Mexico judge has issued a temporary restraining order that prevents their release, with a hearing set for March 31.

Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll be covering: 

Weather:Finally, we’ll wrap up with a weather forecast for the whole world.

Local News:We’ll start with the happenings in your town.

National News:We’ll then turn our attention to the major events unfolding across your country

International News:We’ll also provide updates on key international developments

Business News:We’ll have a segment dedicated to the latest business news and economic trends

Sports News:We’ll also be covering the latest sports news.

As villagers head into the fields of Tulsi, a village outside Raipur in central India, on a muggy September morning, 32-year-old YouTuber Jai Varma asks a group of women to join him for his latest video. They gather around him – adjusting their sarees and sharing a quick word and a smile. 

Varma places an elderly woman on a plastic chair, asks another to touch her feet and a third to serve water, staging a scene of a rural village festival for fans who will enjoy his content from cities and countries thousands of kilometres away. The women, familiar with this kind of work, are happy to oblige. Varma captures the moment, and they return to their farmwork.

A few hundred metres away, another group is busy setting up their own production. One holds up a mobile phone, filming as 26-year-old Rajesh Diwar moves to the rhythm of a hip-hop track, his hands and body animated in the expressive style of a seasoned performer.

Tulsi is like any other Indian village. The small outpost in the central state of Chhattisgarh is home to one-storey houses and partially paved roads. A water storage tank peers out above the buildings, overseeing the town. Banyan trees with concrete bases serve as gathering spots. But what sets Tulsi apart is its distinction as India’s “YouTube Village”.

Some 4,000 people live in Tulsi, and reports suggest more than 1,000 of them work on YouTube in some capacity. Walk around the village itself and it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t appeared in one of the many videos being filmed there. 

The money that YouTube brings has transformed the local economy, locals say, and beyond financial benefits, the social media platform has become an instrument for equality and social change. The residents who’ve launched successful YouTube channels and found new streams of income include a number of women who previously had few opportunities for advancement in this rural setting. Under the banyan trees, conversations have turned to technology and the internet.

February 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of YouTube. Approximately 2.5 billion people use the platform per month by some estimates, and India is one of YouTube’s biggest markets by far. Over the decades, YouTube has changed not only the web but the entire way we think about creating and consuming human culture. In a way, Tulsi village is a microcosm of YouTube’s effect on the world itself, where for some, their entire lives revolve around online videos. 

“It is keeping the children away from bad habits and crime,” says Netram Yadav, 49, a farmer in Tulsi and one of the many admirers of the village’s burgeoning social media scene. “These content creators have made everyone in the village proud for what they have been able to achieve and do.” 

Tulsi’s Youtube transformation started back in 2018, when Varma and his friend Gyanendra Shukla launched a YouTube channel called Being Chhattisgarhiya.”We were not content with our routine lives, and wanted to do something that would allow our creative juices to flow,” Varma says.

Their third video, about a young couple being harassed on Valentines Day by members of Bajrang Dal, a right wing Hindu nationalist group, was the first to go viral. The mix of comedy and social commentary struck a chord. “The video was humorous, but it also had a message, and we left it open for viewers to interpret,” Varma says.

The duo gained tens of thousands of followers in a matter of months, a number that’s since spread to over 125,000 subscribers and a cumulative viewership exceeding 260 million. Their families’ concerns about dedicating so much time to social media were silenced when the money started flowing in. “We were earning over 30,000 rupees [about £278 or $346] a month, and were able to support the team members who helped us,” Shukla says. He and Varma left their jobs to pursue YouTube full-time.

Their videos are impactful, with strong themes, and have reached millions – Sarveshwar Bhure

Their success was soon an inspiration to other Tulsi residents. Shukla says his team paid their actors and even provided training for others in editing and script writing. Some villagers created their own channels, while others were content to volunteer.

It was enough to attract attention from local officials. Impressed by the success of the village content creators, the state government established a state-of-the-art studio in the village in 2023. Sarveshwar Bhure, former collector – a senior civil servant – of the Raipur district which includes Tulsi, says he saw the village’s YouTube work as an opportunity to address the digital divide. “I wanted to bridge the gap between rural and urban life by providing this studio,” Bhure says. “Their videos are impactful, with strong themes, and have reached millions. Setting up a studio was a way to motivate them.” 

The bet paid off. YouTube has created a livelihood for hundreds of young people in the village, Bhure says. It’s stoking a regional entertainment industry and launching some Tulsi YouTubers out of their small-town life. 

Of all the social media stars born in Tulsi’s YouTube frenzy, none has risen higher than 27-year-old Pinky Sahoo. Growing up in a remote village built around agriculture, Sahoo’s aspirations of becoming an actress and dancer felt like a distant fantasy – thanks especially to disapproval from family and neighbours who saw acting as taboo.

Despite their criticism, Sahoo started posting dance videos on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Her breakthrough came when the founders of Being Chhattisgarhiya spotted her videos and recruited her for their own productions. “It was a dream come true,” Sahoo recalls. “They recognised my talent and honed my skills.”

The momentum continued as her work with Being Chattisgarhiya caught the attention of local filmmakers in Chattisgarh’s regional cinema business, and Sahoo was cast in her first movie role. She’s since appeared in seven films. Anand Manikpuri, a producer and director in the nearby city of Bilaspur, was impressed by her YouTube performances. “I was looking for a fresh face who could act, and Sahoo had it all,” he says.

Tulsi resident Aditya Bhagel was still in college when, inspired by Varma and Shukla, he decided to start his own channel. Adapting their techniques, he grew to over 20,000 followers within a year and started earning money from YouTube. Eventually, Varma recruited him for a writing and directing job on the Being Chattisgarhiya team. “It was like meeting celebrities,” Bhagel says, recalling his first meeting with Varma and Shukla.

A job in the production house in the nearby city of Raipur soon followed, where he was hired based on his YouTube work. That streak continued when Bhagel landed a role as a scriptwriter and assistant director for an upcoming, big-budget movie titled Kharun Paar. “I can only hope that one day I get to work in tinsel town,” he says.

Yet another YouTuber turned cinema professional is 38-year-old Manoj Yadav. He had his first acting role as a child, portraying a young Lord Rama in an annual reenactment of the Hindu epic the Ramayana. Yadav never imagined that those claps would one day echo in cinema halls across Chhattisgarh.

After years of showcasing his talent in YouTube videos, Yadav landed a role in a regional film, one that earned widespread praise for his acting skills. Today, Yadav has not only made a name for himself but built an entire livelihood through his craft. “None of this would have been possible without YouTube,” he says “I can’t put my feelings into words.”

In Tulsi, YouTube has paved the way for women to take centre stage in this technological revolution.

According to Draupadi Vaishnu, the former Sarpanch, or village head of Tulsi, YouTube can play a crucial role in challenging biases and changing societal norms in India, where domestic abuse remains a prevalent issue. “It’s common for women to perpetuate [misogynistic practices], especially in how they treat their daughters-in-law. These videos help break those cycles,” Vaishnu says.

Recently the 61-year-old starred in a video addressing the subject. “I was glad to take on that role because it promoted the importance of treating women with respect and equality, a value I championed during my time as village head,” she says.

Rahul Varma (no relation to Jai Varma), a 28-year old wedding photographer who learned the art from YouTube from his fellow villagers, says the platform has been transformative. “At first, our mothers and sisters were just helping out. Now, they’re running their own channels. It’s not something we would have imagined before,” he says. Even his 15-year-old nephew assists the village content creators, Varma says. “It is a serious business here, everyone participates.”

There was an explosion of rural content creators in India during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on TikTok, before India banned the app in 2020. That initial wave was primarily driven by men, says Shriram Venkatraman, an assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark who studies the impacts of social media in India. However, there are a lot more women running successful social media channels post pandemic, Venkatraman says, and that’s created new economic opportunities. 

“The amount of global connections that it has brought about is transformative, to say the least,” he says, for both men and women. “Some even start other businesses from YouTube using their subscribers and content consumers as their initial customer base, for example, hair oil and homemade spices/masalas.”

But for some, money is beside the point. “I love contributing to the videos produced by my village’s channels, and I do it without expecting anything in return,” says 56-year-old Ramkali Varma (also no relation to Jai Varma), a homemaker who has emerged as the go-to actress for roles portraying loving mothers, making her one of the village’s most sought-after talents.

Ramkali’s acting roles often address gender issues. A favourite was a supportive mother-in-law who encourages her daughter-in-law to pursue further education, she says. “I’ve been able to advocate for women’s education and success. Acting brings me satisfaction and peace of mind.”

Now a successful and self-reliant actress, Sahoo hopes to inspire other young girls. “If I can achieve my dreams, they can too,” she says, reflecting on the pride of watching her performance on the big screen with her father. In Tulsi, Sahoo has become a role model for young women. “Seeing girls dream big and aim high is the most rewarding part of my journey. There are girls now who aspire to become filmmakers,” she says.

As the sun sets over Tulsi, Diwar and his team work tirelessly to perfect their hip hop beats. “Switching from content creation to rap music hasn’t been easy,” says Diwar, whose channel’s name is Lethwa Raja, which loosely translates to “Amazing King”.

Diwar hopes YouTube can be a vector for other cultural shifts for his people. “Not many people rap in our language, but I believe I can change that,” he says. “I want to bring a new sound to our region and make Tulsi known for its music as much as its videos.”

*Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Shriram Venkatraman’s university affiliation. He is an assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark. This article was originally published on 18 February 2025 and updated on 11 March 2025.