A Definitive Ranking Of The Top 10 Indian Memes In 2016

It was a glorious year for the internet.

10. Tiger Shroff's amazing leg lift.

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Why it's iconic: The picture is a photoshopper's dream, but the sheer lengths the Indian internet went to, deserves a shout out.

Bonus: This was probably our first nibble at Tiger's rubber-band-like body in the meme-verse, and it was spectacular. Can't wait for the next one.

9. Baba Ramdev's India Today cover.

Twitter: @Gotham3

Why it's iconic: This is the only meme made from the cover of a magazine on this list (which is pretty surprising). Ramdev is clearly one of the internet's running jokes, and this time, the format was superb.

Bonus: Ramdev just being Ramdev.

8. Virat Kohli's attempt to stand up for Anushka Sharma.

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Why it's iconic: The fact that the Indian internet is so savage, that they took a dude trying to stand up for his girlfriend and turned it into one of the year's biggest memes.

Bonus: Props to people for picking things that literally EVERYONE hates. Looking at you, Pepsi.

7. Shilpa Shetty's quote about a book.

Twitter: @krishashok

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Why it's iconic: Classic accidental meme-age. There's no better fuel for the internet than someone, somewhere fucking up. Our generation thrives on the mistakes of others. The stupider, the better.

Bonus: Being the only text meme on this list.

6. The unveiling of Narendra Modi's wax statue.

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Why it's iconic: Alright, there was no question that Modi would be on this list. But TWO Modis? No contest. People jabbed at this meme by making references to the identical Modis, and not holding back at all.

Bonus: People pointing out that the wax statue was fairer, taller, and possibly more realistic that the real life human standing next to it.

5. Randeep Hooda's transformation for his role in Sarbjit.

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Why it's iconic: People wasted no time to swarm Randeep Hooda's insane transformation. Also super appreciate how versatile this meme was.

Bonus: Pretty much everyone organically chose the same before picture, which was pretty cool.

4. This scene from Aamir Khan's recent release Dangal.

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Why it's iconic: This scene had some hilarious potential, and Indians did not miss the opportunity to critically analyse this masterpiece of cinematic history.

Bonus: There were many scenes that could have been viral film memes over the course of the year, but leave it to Twitter to find one from one of the most critically acclaimed ones.

3. Aamir Khan's transformation for Dangal.

Twitter: @one_by_two

Why it's iconic: It would have been a pretty big disappointment if this wasn't on the list because it was basically fed to us on a silver platter. But obviously, you should never doubt Indian meme-ers.

Bonus: Kudos to Aamir Khan for always being dedicated to his craft, and always providing some great content, well placed within an already existing joke format.

2. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's bold purple lipstick at Cannes.

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Why it's iconic: World event. Iconic actress. Hilarious lipstick. How could this not have made the list? Aishwarya gave us a bunch of fabulously meme-able expressions while on the red carpet at Cannes. Thank you, Aishwarya. Sincerely.

Bonus: Aishwarya kinda stole the limelight from Sonam Kapoor's roti dress.

1. The return of the glorious "Sonam Gupta bewafa hai" meme.

Facebook: IndiaBakchod

Why it's iconic: This is one of India's most priceless hidden gems, and now a whole new generation of people get to bask in its glory. The triumphant return of anything is awesome, but the reincarnation of meme? Priceless.

Bonus: Pretty much everything about this. This was the best side-effect of demonetisation, hands down.