There’s a good chance that you’ve heard Mannat Noor’s Laung Laachi in a dimly lit bar in Connaught Place. The song, from a 2018 Punjabi film of the same name starring Neeru Bajwa and Ammy Virk, has already inspired a remix in Kartik Aaryan & Kriti Sanon’s Luka Chuppi. And even though it’s unlikely that you might have come across the song’s official music video, it’s worth noting that it is currently at the top of India’s most-viewed videos on YouTube, with an estimated 883 million views.
What does the India top 10 look like?
Looking at the list, it’s definitely surprising to not find a T-Series song in the top 3. Laung Laachi is uploaded on T-Series Apna Punjab, second is Neha Kakkar’s Mile Ho Tum Humko on Zee Music. Third on the list is Salman ‘Bhai’ Khan’s chart-buster song, Swag Se Swagat, belonging to YRF’s Tiger Zinda Hai. At number four is T-Series’ first entry with Guru Randhawa’s Lahore. Dharma Productions appears twice on this list, with Simmba‘s Aankh Maarey and Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya‘s title track (both being remixes). The only South Indian entry closest to the top 10 videos on YouTube is a song called Rowdy Baby from Dhanush & Sai Pallavi’s Maari 2, coming 11th on the list with around 574 million views.
How does it fare compared the global top 10?
India’s numbers pale compared to the world’s top 10 most-viewed videos on YouTube, of all time. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s Despacito has an estimated 6.33 billion views, about eight times of Laung Laachi. Usual suspects like Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You, Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk have an estimated views of 4.31 billion, 4.18 billion and 3.61 billion respectively. PSY’s Gangnam Style, the first YouTube video to cross one billion views, currently stands at #6 with 3.39 billion views. Justin Bieber’s Sorry & Katy Perry’s Roar complete the list of global top 10.
With mobile data in India becoming the cheapest in the world, one can expect Laung Laachi to soon become the first Indian video to breach a billion views. And many more Indian videos will soon feature in the global top 10.
