What is Twitter without its hashtags? It’s these hashtags that connect people and define the narrative during key moments take place across all spectra — be it politics, entertainment, music or sports. In 2018, India saw conversations around regional entertainment generating massive engagement on Twitter in India. As far as the top 10 hashtags are concerned, South Indian films #Sarkar, #Viswasam, #BharatAneNenu, #AravindhaSametha, #Rangasthalam, #Kaala and TV show #BiggBossTelugu2 clinched seven positions, leaving one for #MeToo and two related to IPL.

So, here are the 10 Twitter hashtags that drew most conversations in 2018 in India:

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1. #Sarkar

Sarkar is a Tamil film starring Thalapathy Vijay (@actorvijay) that has been raking in the moolah worldwide. Needless to say, the word of mouth begins on social media these days, and Twitter fully experienced it. Fans took to Twitter in large numbers to air their appreciation for the film with a political theme, and making it the top hashtag trend of 2018.

2. #Viswasam

Viswasam is an upcoming Tamil action film featuring Ajith Kumar in a dual role. It will release in 2019 but is already dominating Twitter.

3. #BharatAneNenu

Released in 2018, Telugu film Bharat Ane Nenu starring Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) became a blockbuster hit. It’s one of the biggest hits in the lead actor’s career so far.

4. #AravindhaSametha

The 2018 Telugu release broke all records at the box office. Aravindha Sametha starring Pooja Hegde (@hegdepooja) and Jr NTR (@tarak9999) minted more than Rs 100 crore in just three days worldwide, and the huge success reflected on Twitter.

5. #Rangasthalam

Rangasthalam is another Telugu film that made it big. The period action drama became the third highest grossing Telugu movie of all time after the Baahubali series. The film generated major volumes of conversation on Twitter, making it one of the top hashtags of 2018.

6. #Kaala

#Kaala is a Tamil socio-political drama starring none other than the superstar, Rajinikanth. Like all this films, Kaala too evoked massive response from his fans. Twitter came out with the first ever Rajinikanth emoji and it became a big hit.

7. #BiggBossTelugu2

In its second season, the Telugu edition of reality TV series Bigg Boss was one of the most talked about Indian shows on Twitter in 2018.

8. #MeToo

India woke up to the arrival of #MeToo movement that took the country by storm. Hashtags #MeToo and #MeTooIndia are still trending in India, reflecting the women’s need to talk about the harassment meted out to them, and forcing people to pay more attention to women’s safety issues across all sections.

9. #WhistlePodu

The return of Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) took the Twitterverse by storm as fans chanted #WhistlePodu as the team made a dash for the IPL 2018 trophy. #WhistlePodu is a colloquial expression in Tamil, which exhorts people “to whistle”.

10. #IPL2018

Like previous years, #IPL2018 was also a major topic of conversation on Twitter. It was the 11th edition of the cash-rich cricket league, and special Twitter emojis released for all eight franchises added to fans’ enthusiasm this year.

The year 2018 also had some moments that forced people to react. The Kathua rape-murder case in which a minor girl was brutalised dominated the conversation in early part of 2018, while the very eventful #KarnatakaElection remained a hot topic of discussion. And #Aadhaar continued to be one of the most debated topics. Apart from politics, moments from the entertainment industry and the sports world too had the twitterati airing their views and opinions — be it #DeepVeer romance and wedding or global sporting occasions such as #AsianGames where Indian athletes, including Bajrang Punia (@BajrangPunia), Hima Das (@HimaDas8) and PV Sindhu (@Pvsindhu), won laurels.

Here are some of the most influential moments on Twitter in 2018:

ENTERTAINMENT

#Sarkar and regional entertainment

#DeepVeer wedding

NEWS & POLITICS

Emergence of #MeToo movement in India

#KarnatakaElections2018 that saw more than 3 million mentions between April 25 and May 15, 2018.

#KeralaFloods that brought together government agencies, relief organisations, eminent personalities and the common man on the platform to help #RebuildKerala.

#KathuaRapeMurder that saw outraged people flooding Twitter with condemnation for the culprit and demand for justice for the 8-year-old.

The #Aadhaar debate continued as conversations around privacy issues resurfaced in 2018.

SPORTS

#IPL2018

#WhistlePodu comeback of CSK

#AsianGames2018 where Indian athletes including Bajrang Punia (@BajrangPunia), Hima Das (@HimaDas8) and PV Sindhu (@Pvsindhu) clinched 69 medals