Lately, Metaverse and NFTs have become the talk of the town, grabbing even the attention of multiple Indian superstars and celebrities. While NFTs took the world by storm in 2021, the metaverse is touted to become the next big evolution on the internet.
Technically, the metaverse is a 3D virtual platform in the digital world wherein virtual, augmented and physical reality converge. On the other hand, NFTs are non-fungible tokens – crypto digital assets that exist within a blockchain.
Long story short, the metaverse is a lucrative platform where NFTs can be sold and auctioned by people from literally all walks of life. The rapid bloom of these two technologies is completely changing how we view assets and investments.
Maybe that’s why several Indian celebrities like Daler Mehendi, Kamal Haasan and Amitabh Bachchan, among others, couldn’t hold themselves from the colourful trance of Metaverse and NFTs.
In this article, let’s get to know all the biggies of Tinseltown who have invested in Metaverse and NFT.
Table of contents
Biggies Who Entered the Metaverse
A Metaverse is a hybrid space that employs an amalgamation of AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and 3D holographic avatars to render a social experience to the users in the virtual world. The channel has unlocked an utterly new spectrum of prospects for investors, innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, and developers like never before.
Its unmatched applications and benefits have also enticed many Indian celebs to invest in the platform. Some of the big names to have already done it are as follows:
Daler Mehndi: Bought a Balle Balle Land in the Metaverse
A few days back, Indian Singer, Daler Mehndi, made news by becoming the first Indian to purchase land in the metaverse. The news came just a week after the singer gained the title of being the first Indian celeb to perform in the metaverse.
As per reports and Daler Mehndi’s Insta feed, he named his virtual property “Balle Balle Land”. He acquired the plot through the Metaverse platform called PartyNite. The singer is most likely to host music concerts and films in Balle Balle Land and is soon to set up a Daler Mehndi Store dedicated to selling Mehndi special merchandise as NFTs.
Here’s a glimpse of his Insta Feed:
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Kamal Haasan: The First Indian Star to Have a Digital Avatar in Metaverse
Just after his 67th birthday celebration, the ace actor, Kamal Hassan, announced his entry into the world of the metaverse and NFT. Collaborating with the popular NFT platform of Frantico, the actor planned to have his own digital avatar in the metaverse and auction his movie memorabilia in the form of NFTs.
Here’s a glimpse of Haasan’s Instagram feed on him entering into Metaverse:
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Indian Celebrities Getting High on NFTs
Revolutionising virtual investments, the digital or crypto tokens of NFTs, stored on Blockchain, furnishes a lucrative gateway to artists and investors who wish to sell or auction their art or assets virtually.
Understanding the potential of this new virtual innovation, some top Indian celebrities have already started investing in it since last year. In this section, let’s look at who they are and how they have used NFT to their advantage.
Amitabh Bachchan
Bollywood’s legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan entered the NFT bandwagon the moment he got the opportunity. Big B auctioned the recitation of his father’s iconic poem Madhushala recorded in his own alluring voice in the form of NFTs in November 2021.
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And, the Shahenshah didn’t just stop there. As part of his NFT collection, he also launched autographed-posters of his most iconic movies, including the cult movie Sholay and other memorabilia. He sold his entire collection for a jaw-dropping ₹7.18 Crores through the NFT marketplace beyondLife.club.
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Rajinikanth
When the Big B of Bollywood can invest in NFT, why not the Thalaivar of Tollywood? Adding another feather to his hat, the Super Star, Rajinikanth, delved into the NFT world to launch his movie collectables. Partnering with the Singapore-based NFT marketplace, Diginoor.io, the ace actor launched NFTs in July 2021, which was based on his 2007 Tamil action blockbuster Sivaji: The Boss.
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Sold out with a snap of his fingers (the Thalaivar style), the opening price for his seventeen NFTs varied from USD 99 (Rs 7,386.59) to USD 1,500 (Rs 1,11,918). Payment options were available in cryptocurrencies and credit and debit cards.
Sunny Leone
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The first Indian actress to launch an NFT collection, Sunny Leone, surely fired up the virtual marketplace in 2021. Partnering with the NFT platform Mintdropz, the actress released her unique collection, Misfitz by Sunny Leone. With bizarre and bold motifs, loud characters, and everything eclectic, the 9,600 NFTs were exceptional and were sold out in November last year.
Salman Khan
When talking of Indian superstars and NFTs, how can we leave the Bhai of Bollywood out?
Planning to release his NFT collection, Salman Khan teamed up with the Bollywood NFT marketplace of BollyCoin in October 2021.
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Finally, on 25 December last year, he took to Twitter to announce the launch of his NFT space and his Dabangg-based NFT series (comprising 42 scenes from the movie). Featuring 200 NFTs, reports suggest that about 1 million Bolly tokens were sold out within just 3 hours of his static NFTs launch. The auction was open till 11 February 2022.
Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra is India’s first ace fashion designer to enter the crypto world. In October 2021, he launched five exclusive sketches and runaway GIFs of his couture. The sketch outfits were worn by Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Lisa Ray, and Kareena Kapoor Khan.
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Manish Malhotra’s auction went live on the NFT marketplace, WazirX and was immediately sold out. His highest-earning outfit sketch was the one famously worn by Kareena Kapoor Khan, called the Illuminous Showstopper. It earned about 3,000 WRX, roughly summing up to about USD 4,000 (almost ₹ 2.8 lakh).
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In What Other Ways are Celebs Using the Metaverse?
Besides Indian celebrities making their debut in the metaverse, here are some additional updates on the use and popularity of this virtual platform.
- Indian celebs are not just investing in metaverse and NFTs but also metaverse startups. Baahubali’s lead antagonist Rana Daggubati has backed an Indian metaverse startup Ikonz who aims to raise funds through the virtual platform to encourage global artistic talent, ramp up IP aggression and bring together 50% of premium entertainment IPs of India under a single banner within 12 to 18 months.
- Filmmakers have also started launching their movies and trailers on the Metaverse platform. Prabhas and Pooja Hegde starrer Radhe Shyam were the first to be released on metaverse. New releases like KGF: Chapter 2 are also set to be launched in the metaverse. Ajay Devgn starrer series Rudra – the Edge of Darkness is also now available in the metaverse.
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- The Bollywood production company, Pooja Entertainment, has forayed into the metaverse and acquired its first piece of virtual land called Poojaverse. The production company will start with the launch of BadeMiyan ChoteMiyan, starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff.
- ALTBalaji has launched a first-of-its-kind fantasy-based Metaverse game for its current reality show Lock Upp (Directed by Ekta Kapoor and hosted by Kangana Ranaut). The game allows players to join celebrity contestants on the show, roam through the captive world of the Lock Upp Metaverse, recreate a role in the ecosystem and win rewards.
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Why the Intense Chase after NFTs and Metaverse?
There are a plethora of reasons that completely justify the inclination of celebrities and big investors toward this trend. The most popular ones are described below:
Money Churner
While we were talking about the celebrities who launched their NFT collections, you might have noticed that they made huge money from that. Whether it’s Big B, Rajnikanth, Sunny Leone, or Manish Malhotra, everybody had their collections sold out almost immediately.
So, we can say that since NFTs work as an excellent money churner that, apart from celebrities, can also catapult investors to wealth and abundance. Additionally, the metaverse provides one with a platform where they can buy their own space, recreate it, and sell it at a price higher than that. Again, big money!
see also@ NFT Scams: Avoid these High-Tech Ripoffs!
NFTs and Metaverse Complete Each Other
Irrespective of when NFTs were launched, they are still in incipient stages of adoption. The truth is NFTs gained more popularity only after the metaverse became a more prevalent concept. Before that, the use case of NFTs was limited. However, things have indeed changed in the last few years. Besides being used for buying and selling collectables and artworks, NFTs are also useful for transactions in the metaverse.
For example, when Budweiser announced its entry into the NFTs space, it stated that its NFTs would provide people access to its metaverse platform named Budverse. This platform will further offer them special rewards and other benefits.
Likewise, Ralph Lauren created a string of virtual clothing inside Zepetto wherein one can purchase digital clothing using the platform currency of ZEM. In simpler terms, NFTs are the counterpart of currencies in the physical world as they can be utilised for transactions virtually as well.
Blockchain Boosts the Credibility of NFTs
NFTs had existed long before Blockchain technology was even heard of. This stands true, at least in active conversations and the mainstream media. Nevertheless, Blockchain made NFTs truly exceptional, more reliable, and therefore useful. The question is: how?
NFT is an electronic illustration of an asset in the physical world. However, when an NFT is registered on the Blockchain, it becomes a digital asset that cannot be meddled with, owing to the potency of this technology. All of this adds credibility to NFTs and makes them more useful.
Next Big Digital Boulevard
There’s no doubt that NFTs and Metaverse are soon going to be the next big digital street for most people to comfortably walk on (especially if they are crypto investors). It became apparent when Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, said that the “Metaverse is the successor to the mobile internet.”
Although he didn’t cite anything about the NFTs, it won’t be implausible to state that NFTs are a crucial currency that holds the potential to transform the metaverse into a functional virtual space.
What Lies Ahead in the World of Metaverse and NFTs?
The special attention of the highly influential Indian celebrities towards the Metaverse and NFTs is not only piquing the interests of many other celebs in the entertainment industry but is also heightening the two technologies’ popularity amongst the general populace.
Although Metaverse and NFTs have been here for the past two decades, the magnificent star power seems to have brought them under the spotlight since 2021, paving the way for an investment trend that might stay for the long haul.
Their presence also fans the Gen Z’s ever-blazing interest in the virtual world, who have been extensively engaged in online gaming till now.
