Dinesh Mohan made his modelling debut on Instagram at age 59. He had begun modelling two years earlier. But, he says, it was during the pandemic that he struck gold. “I began to get noticed,” says the Gurugram resident, who at six feet, pulls off a suit, denim, fanny pack and floral scarf with equal ease. He puts it down to his honesty and “bindaas attitude”. Clear from the word go that he would be himself rather than pander to popularity rules, he uses Instagram as a medium of expression. “I am very unpredictable, and you will see me do things that others my age won’t. I consciously avoid playing the role of a grandfather,” declares Mohan, whose last casting was a negative role in the Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar. Being tech savvy has helped the man garner three lakh followers, all of them young. “In fact, 80 per cent of my followers are under 27!” This is his prime time professionally, and he claims to be making eight times more money than he did when his hair was dark and he was working full time in a government job.

Mohan is what the social media world calls a granfluencer, several of whom debuted during the COVID-led pandemic.