‘Sadakku sadakku’
The trend centres around Thakilu Pukilu, the popular song from the 2001 Malayalam film Ravanaprabhu, which re-released in October. Fans revelled in Suresh Peters’ high-energy beats and Mohanlal’s macho maximus presence. Videos from the theatre went viral. So much so that even a local politician became an ‘overnight star’ after a video showed him grooving to the song. Riding this renewed interest, the web world was taken over by AI-generated “Poochandi” cat dance clips using the song as background audio.
Poocha Sir
Any year is the cat year. Any day is cat day. That’s how it is in catverse. Poocha Sir refers to a series of meme videos where clips of cats in funny situations are dubbed with humorous voice-overs, often using the CapCut Trickster voice effect. This often includes videos portrayed in a situational comedy or sarcasm setting. Topped with Malayalam voice-over. In addition, AI orange cat cartoons also went viral, with this furball going on a crime spree. It became so popular that Kerala Police cautioned against children accessing the
videos.
Parody punch
‘Pottiye Kettiye’ emerged as one of Kerala’s most talked-about parody tracks of the year — a sharp, satirical spin on a popular Ayyappa devotional song. The remix, which cheekily referenced the Sabarimala gold theft case, spread across reels and WhatsApp groups during the recent local body elections, quickly becoming a campaign-season earworm that many believe impacted the civic polls. Well, it looks like the song could reverberate beyond the season.
Let the universe conspire
Manifestation is the idea of attracting whatever one desires — be it love, money, freedom, or peace — using one’s mind and positive affirmations. Gen Z and millennials alike have been actively putting out their positive intentions into the universe. Manifestation, considered a form of spiritualism, is a nudge to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, backed by the belief that energetic mindfulness influences the universe.
Husky dance, anyone?
Husky Dance is a viral Instagram trend triggered by Vaikom native D Arjun. It features a looping video of a Husky dog animated to dance to popular Indian film songs. Arjun discovered the clip from older TikTok-style animal videos and began posting one video a day on his page ‘Husky Dance Daily’. The trend exploded after a Husky danced to the Tamil song Ichu Ichu, crossing millions of views overnight. Celebrities joined in, meme pages picked it up, and the trend went global.
‘Bavu Swami’ rocks
Self-styled avadhoots Babu Swami and Naga Sairanthri are ‘on air’, courtesy a social media clip showing them at a talk show. In the video, Naga claims that she and Babu Swami danced together and had a great time at her kshethram (shrine). Her slurry dialogue with exaggerated expressions made the clip go viral. Now, there is a slew of ‘Bhavu Sami’ reels and remix tracks, with even some celebrities joining the trend.
Bohemian Bounce
In 2025, boho chic made a noticeable return to mainstream fashion, driven by nostalgia and a renewed interest in individuality. Rooted in bohemian and hippie aesthetics, the style is defined by flowing silhouettes, layered accessories and earthy textures. Designers and influencers reworked the look with modern tailoring and contemporary pairings, reintroducing the look to a Gen Z audience. The revival also signalled changing lifestyle preferences towards comfort, self-expression and slower, more intentional fashion choices.
Labubu mania
The Labubu craze, a global collectable toy obsession, took over Indian social media. The big-eyed, impish creature from the POP MART universe became a symbol of ‘cute chaos’. Creators flaunted their Labubu collections, unboxing videos trended non-stop, and knock-offs flooded local markets.
Fighter fandom
A British navy F-35B fighter jet made an emergency landing at the T’Puram airport on June 14, and remained grounded there for nearly three weeks. Memes on the jet’s long stay in Kerala spurred a flurry of memes. Trollers even made fake Aadhaar and PAN cards for it. Someone even posted the jet on OLX. Kerala Tourism also joined the trend with a post on the F-25 enjoying its stay.
King Akshaye X Flipperachi
Akshaye Khanna has taken the 2025 crown with his effortless swag as he grooved to Bahraini rapper Flipperachi’s ‘Fa9la’ track in the film Dhurandhar. His entry scene from the film took social media by storm. Numerous shorts comparing his ‘aura’ to his father Vinod Khanna’s vintage charm are also doing the rounds now. Many say the Akshaye-Flipperachi vibe lured them to the theatres.
What’s up, Matcha?
Originally a Japanese green tea, matcha is now widely seen in cafes, home routines, and reels. People share videos of making iced matcha, matcha lattes, or visiting matcha cafés, often linking it to wellness, calm mornings, and a slower lifestyle. More than just a drink, matcha has become a familiar aesthetic and mood on social media.
Tralaleo Tralala…
Italian Brainrot is a surreal meme trend that took over social media in 2025. It features absurd, AI generated characters with exaggerated Italian sounding names with a monotone and artificial male voiceover. Visuals of odd-looking characters such as Tralaleo Tralala, Bombardilo Crocodilo and Tung Tung Tung Sahur are paired with nonsensical storylines and looping audio, including phonk music. The humour lies in embracing the ‘brain rot’ of it all, the internet slang for content so overstimulating and illogical that it feels mentally numbing.
Ghibli all the way
The Ghibli art trend saw social media flood with AI generated visuals inspired by the distinctive style of Studio Ghibli films. Users reimagined personal photographs, pets and everyday scenes into dreamlike illustrations reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated worlds. The aesthetic’s nostalgic warmth made it especially popular on Instagram, with brands also adopting the style for visual storytelling. While widely embraced, the trend also reignited conversations around AI ethics, particularly the use of highly recognisable artistic styles.
Aura farming
Aura farming is a Gen Alpha internet trend centred on projecting nonchalant cool. The term gained traction in 2025 after a video of 11-year-old Indonesian boy named Rayyan dancing casually on the bow of a Pacu Jalur boat went viral. His quiet swagger created major buzz online, coming to represent the idea of personal aura. The trend was propelled by Melly Mike’s track ‘Young, Black & Rich’ that was used as BGM for the clip that spawned memes, reels and imitations.
