Once synonymous with despair, Dharashiv — the Marathwada district long haunted by drought and farmer suicides — is now sizzling on social media for an unexpected reason: its reel-star hoteliers. These rural entrepreneurs have turned traditional Marathwada cuisine into viral content and themselves into local celebrities.

Armed with smartphones instead of degrees, this new generation — mostly sons of farmers — are rewriting Dharashiv’s story, one reel and one recipe at a time. Their Instagram feeds overflow with earthy humour, spicy local fare, and raw authenticity that has drawn food lovers from across Maharashtra. Every day, long queues snake outside their eateries as fans wait not just to taste mutton rassa and jowar bhakri, but to click selfies with the influencers who made them famous.

See Full Page