Instagram Rings 2026: Two Indians among the 25 winners, freestyle footballer Muhammed Riswan and model Bhavitha Mandava

Instagram has announced the winners of its 2026 Rings award, and two of the 25 creators on the list are from India: Kerala freestyle footballer Muhammed Riswan (@riswan_freestyle) and model Bhavitha Mandava (@bhavithamandava). The platform unveiled the list on Thursday (29 October) on its creators’ blog.

Rings is Instagram’s award for creators who “aren’t afraid to take creative chances”. It was first handed out in October 2025, when content creator Dolly Singh was the only Indian among the 25 winners. This year’s winners were nominated and picked by a panel of judges that includes Donatella Versace, A$AP Rocky, filmmaker Chloé Zhao, chef Vikas Khanna and Instagram head Adam Mosseri.

Instagram describes Riswan as “a freestyle footballer from Kerala, India, whose gravity-defying journey has built an international audience and become India’s freestyle ambassador through Instagram.”

Riswan, from Malappuram, shot to global fame with a short clip of him kicking a football behind the rocks of the Keralamkundu waterfall, posted in November 2023. By January 2025 it had passed 554 million views, becoming the most-viewed reel on Instagram and earning recognition from Guinness World Records, The Times of India reported. “I never expected this. Just a fun video with friends—within 10 minutes, 2,00,000 views! By the time I got home, it had hit a million,” he told Mathrubhumi at the time.

Mandava’s rise has been just as unusual. According to Instagram, she “was discovered on a subway by Matthieu Blazy in jeans and a tee, with no modeling experience before debuting as a Bottega Veneta exclusive. She is the first Indian model to open Chanel Métiers d’Art.”

Winners get a physical ring designed by judge Emily Adams Bode Aujla, built around a four-leaf clover cut from Connemara marble. On the app, a gold ring replaces the usual Stories ring around their profile picture whenever they post a story, and they can change their profile background colour and put their own spin on the “like” button, Instagram said.

The rest of the 2026 list spans footballer Erling Haaland, British rapper Little Simz, comedian Pooja Tripathi and Mexican trio LATIN MAFIA, among others.