Why she waited 9 hrs to meet SRK | How she caught Ranbir & Katrina |Ft Miss Malini w Radhika Bajoria

[00:00:00] Our guest for today is somebody who knows everything about what's happening in Bollywood She owns India's biggest entertainment platform, Miss Malini Welcome Malini to our show, Wiping Out The Norm Thank you so much for having me

[00:00:12] But starting things off, you know, your company got acquired by the Good Glam Group I mean, you've fully changed the way bloggers are now looked at And you were one of the firsts who actually gave meaning to the term blogging

[00:00:25] So tell me like, how did this journey even start? How did you get this introduction in the world of blogging? So actually, I started off as a backup dancer for Subhir many years ago And when I moved to Bombay, I was working in a dot com

[00:00:41] And little by little, I was like, I was a little bit into the whole digital world for a bit And then I became a radio DJ for nine years in Bombay And the radio station was Radio One, formerly 94.3 and 92.5 And it was owned by the newspaper Midday

[00:00:56] So they gave me a column in Midday called Malini's Mumbai Which is like a gossip column How did that happen? Because the radio station was owned by the newspaper So they said, since you any case, you know, cover Nightlife

[00:01:08] And you go out, you talk about it on the show Why don't you also start a column in the paper alongside So was your show like doing really great for which they gave a column? I mean, I think it was, yeah

[00:01:16] I mean, we were the first few radio stations And we were the only English playing radio stations So I used to do a show called Horn Okay, Please from 6 to 9 p.m And I used to cover a lot of what's happening and the city and stuff

[00:01:28] And I guess a lot of celebrity, you know, star-studded events So then they started inviting me to a lot of these things And they said, why don't you write a column about it And that was the first iteration maybe 17, 18 years ago

[00:01:39] And how would you get these pieces of content to talk about Ki kya ho rahe hai siti mein, kya chal rahe hai? So it was because I would be invited to the events, right As the radio jockey

[00:01:48] So as a result, I would go and then I would just write about whatever I experienced So from there on your journey and event started So that's where my journey and you know, going to these events started definitely

[00:01:58] And then I think back in 2008, I was talking to a friend of mine And I was complaining that, you know, whenever I write my column They cut it down so much and they edited down to only keeping who are the

[00:02:08] You know, which celebrity came with who and more of that So he said, why don't you start a blog And at that point I was like, what's a blog? And he said it's like this online digital diary And I said, but who reads it?

[00:02:20] And he said, don't worry about that. He just made me a login And I logged in and I started writing On which platform? It was actually WordPress.mismalini.com Which was really, it was really funny to look back at that

[00:02:32] Because I you know, it all happened quite by accident But you said that you were in background dancing So what was that about? Tell us a little more on that Like which actors did you perform with And how did you get into that in the first place?

[00:02:43] So it wasn't for film It was a lot of indie pop singers and stars So when I was in college My choreographer in the college used to run her own dance troupe Her name was Veronica Jacobs So her troupe was called Veronica Jacobs in the planets

[00:02:55] And so she used to a lot of times find good dancers in colleges And ask them if they want to join the troupe So she asked me and another friend of mine from the college So I used to be a backup dancer for singers like

[00:03:06] Sukbir, Anamika, Penaz, Misani, Shibani, Kashyap A lot of them And then we also used to get to perform at things like the Pepsi Dance Connection or the Channel V Award So that you know that you have even danced with the Spice Girls

[00:03:19] And Pita Andre, Mika Singh, the Lehrmendi So all these indie pop singers So not film background but on stage Singing On stage Okay Dancing, yeah And where did you grow up? So my dad was in the Foreign Service So I was born in Alabad But zero to seventeen

[00:03:34] I grew up all over the world So every three years we used to move So Somalia, Lebanon, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, Ivory Coast And then when I was seventeen I came back because he retired Then I was in Delhi for six years And now Bombay for 24

[00:03:47] What is so special about Bombay that you know After roaming around I feel like people All the world you know It's one of those places that you love it or hate it I came for a weekend just for fun And I pretty much never left

[00:03:59] So that's the story of Bombay It's that city of dreams I guess It is, it is And that's how you started your dream You know in this city of dreams How was your business valued Because every blogger today Wants to grow a business out of it

[00:04:12] Now that it's like a cool thing to do How is like How does a blogger even start their business firstly How do they convert their hobby and passion Into a business And how do they value it Like what do investors look at When investing in a blogging business

[00:04:29] So here I mean it was pretty unique Because we're a personality led brand But if you look at bloggers in general You have to look at obviously What your revenue model is Right different people have different revenue models For us there was a lot of advertorial

[00:04:40] A lot of advertising A lot of content that we created For different brands So that was our model And then the valuation was made as per You have a certain exponential of the revenue So based on the revenue you make There's a certain multiple they calculate Got it

[00:04:56] But I don't think so It must be more than 5x Because in you know proper tech related services Where do you have consumers Subscribing to your tech I think it's more than 8x7s I think it all I mean it really depends

[00:05:08] It also depends on the different pieces To the business There's a lot of pieces on our side Which are you know hard to put a number on right Whether it's a celebrity network or relationships So I think there's different things that come into play

[00:05:20] So you had 5 other business verticals Which got acquired by the Good Glam Group But you started initially with Ms Malini Tell me about your journey on How you started the other platforms of influencer marketing Video production and creative agency also

[00:05:35] Which are some of the other businesses you own So I think it all was very complementary Within the ecosystem right So it made sense once we were blogging That it made sense to have our own Henhouse In-house video unit And then we realized that hey we're really good

[00:05:47] At video production So we can also produce television shows Not just for ourselves but for other people Similarly we realized that since you know We were you know my team was managing me for so long We could understand talent management So we're like okay let's start Ignite

[00:06:00] And then it was called Good Talent Network When we were required And similarly all these different pieces to it We also started something called Girl Tribe Which is you know a big ecosystem for women We built an app around that for a while as well

[00:06:12] So I think it was just that all of these businesses Were very complementary within our ecosystem So when it was acquired it made sense And that's where the value became much higher For the entire Miss Malini Entertainment business Because it wasn't just the blog It was much more

[00:06:25] But when did you start your second enterprise After the first one After 100 years I'm going to have to go and look back at the timelines Because I think 2008 the blog just started The first seed funding was 2010 And where did you get the funding from?

[00:06:39] So there was an angel round So it was like you know friends and family acquaintances All of that But we had the head of you know Google India We had some people from Zengar We had different people Some people from international investors as well

[00:06:52] And then after that we raised some money from Orion and NEA Why did you raise the money? What was the number? Honestly just for growth right I mean we were always very frugal about How we spent our money and what we did with it

[00:07:04] But it was important to be able to scale up That you need to have some investment To just sort of invest in infrastructure And manpower expand out the different verticals And then we also then Ananya Birla also was an investor with us

[00:07:16] And then the good news is it's always You know it's much harder to pay people back than raise money So I'm very glad we were able to pay people back multiple X And then have some equity in a company that will hopefully IPO Yeah of course

[00:07:30] It's already in news that the Good Glam Group will IPO soon And that's why your cash and stock deal with Ms Malini Will really help you too But you know for the benefit of our audience You said you had so many investors within just two years of starting

[00:07:46] So what did you have on your platform Just go take a look investors were like okay This seems like a nice growth potential And of course ad revenues you said is one of them But what were the other modes of revenue? First of all it wasn't just immediate

[00:07:59] It took a long time to convince people Because people do struggle with the idea of investing in content Businesses and the biggest struggle I had was this key man insurance That what if you get hit by a bus Malini You know then what happens to the business

[00:08:12] So that was a challenge always But I think for us it was that we were a unique voice in the industry We're also a positive media company And most media is actually owned by much larger media houses Right so we were kind of a standalone operation

[00:08:26] That was doing great content And you know I think it's a mix of having the right leadership I believe investors invest in people not in businesses So I think I'm very lucky that my co-founders One is Mike Melly One is Naushad Rizwan who was also my husband

[00:08:41] Are very solid you know and Naushad's background is Yale And Harvard's he's a real business mind Mike is also Babson and has been running operations And they're both still here with me 15 years later And very few senior management have that luxury of staying

[00:08:56] With the same management or the same partners or co-founders for so long So I think that trust factor also plays a big part That's true but you know of course team is a given But how are you making money initially?

[00:09:10] So initially the first couple of years there was no money It was all butter You know when we started out it was you know Somebody would give you a pair of jeans to write a blog Or someone would give you a product

[00:09:20] This is I'm talking about literally 13-14 years ago Over time it's become an industry And you have to credit Mike Melly One of my co-founders with really opening doors And explaining to people the value of influencer marketing There was no such terminology Content-grade influencer marketing

[00:09:35] None of this was there And everyone tried to understand What is my ROI if I invest with an influencer But I think slowly people began to realize that There are different stages of marketing Right you can put up a billboard for awareness

[00:09:48] You can get a celebrity to endorse it as an ambassador Again for people to have eyeballs Then you can say that influencer is someone that somebody trusts And tries a product and so recommends it And so it has more impact

[00:09:59] And then we realized the next thing is also micro and nano creators That actually have a smaller community But a much more impactful one Because you're probably going to take your friend's recommendation On what air conditioner to buy As opposed to an influencer or celebrity or a billboard

[00:10:14] So there have been many stages to this growth Understood And like which was your first source of revenue How did you earn money for the first time through your blog You know I honestly Mike will remember better than I will

[00:10:26] But I remember the first barter deal was a pair of Levi's jeans And I remember they flew me to Delhi To come and write a blog about it And this is when it was just a blog There was no social media per se

[00:10:37] And I remember it was Jacqueline Fernandes, Eliana DeCruz Me and Chitrangada And I had to come and interview all of them And write up a post And years later when I was interviewing her I showed her this and we had a good laugh

[00:10:49] About how many years it's been Wow And which was your first monetary deal This was about a deal Yeah I you know I really I don't remember but I feel like it must have been one of the beauty brands It might have been Amébeline or Laurie Allen

[00:11:00] Mike will know better than I will How did you get introduced to Mike Who got your business to the level It is today with you So honestly actually it's the same guy who had told me Why don't you start a blog Karan Videra

[00:11:12] He's the guy who's responsible for that Sing is king and Snoop Dogg collaboration He used to handle pen masala Now he manages Snoop Dogg's cannabis fund as well And he's just a great guy He's like one of my husband's best friends

[00:11:25] And he's the one who had sort of recommended Starting the blog And he knew Mike Melly So when Mike had come to Bombay He had introduced us And we got along And they had once sat with me at Blue Frog And pitched me this idea of

[00:11:37] How can we start a business with you And as a creator And that was kind of the beginning So Karan Videra has played a very instrumental role in my life Wow But how did they see this potential in you at that time What were you doing

[00:11:50] I think that internationally Blogging and the web space was already pretty established So if you look at brands like Pop Sugar Just Jerry They were already there Perez Hilton We're just five or six years behind that always So if you see now podcasting is slowly picking up here

[00:12:06] When it was already big business in the US So that's what they always told me And that's why I came up with Ms Malini Because I like the alliteration Because there were already things like Pop Sugar Or Perez Hilton And that's what I modeled it on first

[00:12:19] As an individual personality And then slowly built it out as a Actual digital magazine But who can be your next in line As in Like, you know To continue your legacy So I mean that's why I've separated the Ms Malini brand from Malini Agarwal

[00:12:35] So that little anime that you see on the site is the brand And already now I'm not the only one who writes for it In fact, there's a team of bloggers And that's been the case for many years So I think it's more of

[00:12:47] When you want to leave a brand It has to have longevity and it has to outlive you So that was always the plan Yeah and you spoke about investors having this Key man risk in your business How did you explain them this

[00:12:59] I mean I didn't know how to explain it either Because it was kind of new to have a personality led brand Now it's pretty common And now influencers are big business So I mean I think for them

[00:13:09] They slowly over time understood that it's not just about me as an individual It's like anybody who's sort of captaining a ship For instance would Apple be Apple without Steve Jobs Even if it's not called Steve Jobs the company

[00:13:21] So I think slowly people realize the value of it That any company needs good leadership Needs good management But I think their fear was Just the idea that it's named after me As opposed to named a Vogue or another brand name

[00:13:37] So but I you know I guess we were we were smart to stick to our guns Because here we are today Yeah I mean like Prada Armani everything is in you know Chanel Everything has been named over an individual And even after like Coco Chanel's death

[00:13:51] It still is existing So it was long due that investors realized What's the value of having your name I think those are also because they build They make a tangible physical product I think in this case because the product is

[00:14:06] Entertainment or content that's where maybe the gray area is for investors Yeah but I'm sure you've grown your team enough now But there is this Bollywood dialogue No Kiteh Admi Thee So like how many people were there in your team when you got acquired

[00:14:22] At acquisition I think we were about I'm not exactly sure of the numbers Somewhere between 60 and 80 It's not like too big like an MNC But a lean team with which you operated Five years ago Yeah you are always careful not to have too many people

[00:14:37] Because that's that many more people to manage And we've always you know We always tell everyone whoever's worked at Ms. Mahani Can pretty much work anywhere And you see there's proof in the pudding I mean there's people who ex Ms. Mahani Like Rashmi Daryanani is now

[00:14:49] At a very senior position at Snapchat There are people who moved on to Amazon and IMDB So they've all you know Once that's on the resume I can tell you that that helps significantly Really? What makes you say that so confidently like you know Because I've seen it

[00:15:03] I've seen so many people who've worked with us Over so many years do so well And I know that they came in completely raw Like Rashmi Daryanani I had hired off Twitter And she was you know just about right out of college

[00:15:14] And she spent eight years at the company And now she's doing so well So I mean a lot of people in these cases I've seen And you know some of them have gone on to become Talent themselves, actors themselves Who's become an actor? So Priyam, Priyam Sahab

[00:15:27] She's a comedian and actor In fact there's a new OTT show coming out That she's in as well So we've been really happy to see a range of people And when we were hiring They weren't people traditionally You know trained in this To write for entertainment online

[00:15:42] So then I actually went hunting for the people I hired I found them on Twitter I found them on Facebook As opposed to where you traditionally find Yeah I mean I don't think so LinkedIn was there no back then I don't think so no I think Facebook also

[00:15:55] I mean this all predates all social media Yeah it was like long, long back So your blog was on WordPress And not on any other internet platform first It was just on WordPress to start with And then I used to tinker around with it a lot

[00:16:07] And then eventually then You know we hosted on our own servers But for the first two years Yeah it was completely WordPress driven But how did you promote it For those two years I didn't really You know honestly the world was different then

[00:16:19] And I've actually written my second book Under the influence on this topic Is that there was no concept of Gathering likes and followers Because there was no platform that said Okay this is how many people Like I knew in the back end

[00:16:30] How many people have read the blog And I remember a funny story I think maybe in 2010 or 11 I threw a party at Hard Rock Cafe To celebrate 1000 Facebook fans Because in my mind at that point It felt like wow 1000 is such a large number

[00:16:42] Of people you can't fit a thousand people in a room So you know there have been many landmarks like that So I think that that was a different time Where I used to write for my enjoyment And satisfaction And it was never meant to be my career

[00:16:55] Or make my money I had a full time job Running the digital content I was the digital content head for Channel V So it was never about that Only now it's become about a public display Of likes, numbers and then that translates into revenue But when it started

[00:17:08] That was never how people looked at it But you said that you had Facebook fans Which means your platform was on Facebook As in like an extension to the blog So all the blogs would go up on Ms. Malini And then Facebook would be

[00:17:21] The extension where I would share links to the blog So the promoting of it would be maybe like that Like soft promoting through Twitter Or Facebook or whatever social media platform That happened to me And how are people discovering your blog?

[00:17:33] I'm asking this question for the new bloggers today Who want to start on other platforms Like Instagram or Facebook I think now it's much more saturated For me I think it was a mix of the fact That there were really very few people

[00:17:46] Writing about what I was writing about Entertainment from an influencer perspective Before that existed So I would pop up in people's radar Like even internationally I remember the One Drop Foundation Was researching bloggers in India To wake up and cover there

[00:18:02] Something they were doing with the One Drop Foundation And they sent me my first little video flip camera Saying that we'll send you a video camera If you cover this on your blog And I was like that's great I can't believe we're going to do that

[00:18:13] So I think it was just that There was a lot less of anybody doing it I would say the strategy now is probably different But at that time it was more that A lot of people also used to hear me on the radio

[00:18:23] So maybe that's why they heard about the blog But it was really It was what a mouth Or people would slowly had started Entering this digital era And started discovering the blog Because maybe one person shared a link about a story

[00:18:35] And there were a couple of I think key moments I still remember One random Tuesday night Me and some friends had gone to China House Which was a new club that had opened in Bombay And at three o'clock the lights came on And everyone was going to leave

[00:18:47] And then Sunday the lights go off again Because Salman Khan has entered And I remember then we didn't Everything was not on our smartphones So I remember having a separate camera A separate phone And I remember taking a picture of him And putting it up on the blog

[00:18:58] That same night like look who he saw And that day he had asked everyone Return everyone's credit cards I'm going to pay for everyone in the club And started handing out bottles of champagne So I documented this And the next day the midday Ironically you had picked up

[00:19:11] This story from my blog And so that's where suddenly people were like Oh wow And the thing is with the digital world is It's instantaneous So I could go see something And put it up in the next hour Now you can do it instantly But with the newspaper

[00:19:26] You have to wait till the next day Because the paper closes at six or eight Or whatever time the press closes So I think that was kind of the advantage And there was a couple of different things Like this that happened that Ended up becoming a sort of

[00:19:36] Breaking news stories that nobody else had And then some of them are very coincidental I remember before anyone knew That Ranbir and Katrina were dating A friend of mine happened to be On the same Lufthansa flight With them in the same row

[00:19:50] And when he landed I was having dinner with him At Blue Frog and he was like Oh I saw Katrina with her boyfriend I was like what? I remember dropping my fork in life And I said who was it? He goes I wasn't sure

[00:20:00] Then I googled and it was this guy And so I wrote that story Describing how someone had seen them on the plane And it was very cute that they were reading scripts And cuddling and no one knew for sure

[00:20:10] If they're dating and then this kind of broke the story But we've always been very mindful of You know we're not trying to get up Into anyone's business It's all very happy and shiny and sort of You know like a nudge nudge wing quink

[00:20:20] But nothing that goes overboard Which is why even when you know Things have gotten a little invasive Like when things went off the rails with All the drama between Kangana and Ritik We drew the line and we said We're not going to write any more speculation

[00:20:34] Only if they want to release a statement And early on I made a rule for my team Because they would always ask Can I write this piece of gossip? Can I not? And you know I came about this the hard way

[00:20:45] I remember running into celebrities and feeling bad Because we had written something about them And I felt awkward coming face to face with it That too when the blog is in your name In my name So I went back and made a rule for my team

[00:20:55] That you cannot write anything You can't say to somebody's face It was a very unusual rule for Bollywood sites But it held us in good stead And I was happy to see that there is an audience For positive content as well But on this part of you covering

[00:21:12] Somebody whom you saw in their private space Like Rinbeet and Katrina Don't they come back and tell you to take it down? So the thing is I didn't post any pictures of them It was just kind of like Oh they were spotted You know so they were seen

[00:21:26] So I think that's I think a grey area And because they're in a public place So if you see a celebrity you can But I think that when you start There are very grey areas in terms of where People then start invading or taking pictures

[00:21:38] Like there have been pictures taken of Alia from her You know neighbors house or whatever So I think that you have to have a moral compass Which I think that There's a lot of Glossing over of that in this industry Especially that Or they're celebrities

[00:21:54] So they asked for it or they're all fair game But I think they still have to treat everyone like humans Some level But do you think that If you had a picture of them on the flight If your friend had given it to you

[00:22:05] Would you have posted it? At that time probably yes Today probably not Yeah you learn with time You learn with time And you also learn with experience And I mean I told you like it It's not like I knew these things off the bat I mean

[00:22:17] I've documented this in my first book as well One of the first things that I learned a lesson from was Somebody had sent me pictures of Rajni Khan Without his hair and makeup on And now normally if you look at Internationally or even India

[00:22:29] People love to see celebrities non-makeup looks Just to see how they look in real life And so you don't think twice So I put up these pictures And the next day The comments in my blog Not even social media because it wasn't

[00:22:41] Were filled with people not trolling me But were deeply upset and offended That I had shamed their hero And I really thought about it And I was like you know so Yeah that's true How is this any different than body shaming Or skin color shaming

[00:22:53] And so I took it down I wrote an apology And I said you're right I see what I did wrong And so these are the lessons I've learned Along the way as well Yeah which you've now documented in your book I've documented in both the books

[00:23:04] So all of this is also in the first book In the second book I've also documented How social media gave me my whole life But also took its pound of flesh So as kind of like I feel that the biggest mistake that All of us are suffering

[00:23:18] Is that nobody taught us how to behave online No one taught us how to use social media You know in real life You know you learn how to drive a car You get lessons Even in your biology class You're taught how to dissect the frog

[00:23:33] If I just gave you a scalpel and a frog Or my car keys without any instruction You never know what a nightmare that would be So I think that we are lacking some instruction in that Because we didn't realize how big a part of our reality

[00:23:46] Virtual reality or the internet was going to become It was always kind of like It's a playground or it's not It's make-believe But it's very IRL in fact You know But on this what's your take on the deep fake videos That have been coming now

[00:23:59] I mean I think that that was always going to be Something that we had to be wary of Which is why it's so important I think you know a great example of this is You know all the publicity stunts that we see

[00:24:11] Or even you know whatever we've seen happen In the past couple of months with different celebrities Is that how much can you believe anymore And what is the truth And what is the you know Owners on whom to find out the truth

[00:24:25] And you know that's the important thing And I think that a lot You know and that's what I'm kind of trying to still Grapple with is in this world of instant information Who's really taking time to verify things Or check things

[00:24:39] I mean that way you have to give Fadis who's a props for beetroot Because she will only put up anything that is well researched Or she has verified resources Because she comes from a background of news reporting That has that in their blood

[00:24:54] I'm not sure that's true for the rest of social media And that's where they all the you know Chaos and the panic gets created right Yeah but why only few celebrities are targeted in this Like I don't know if you I think I think Amandana was

[00:25:07] I feel like unfortunately celebrities get targeted more than anybody else Because just by virtue of being celebrities The same thing right There might be nepotism in every field in the world But the one that we talk about the most is Entertainment right Because it's seen public

[00:25:22] It's seen public but even big industrialist There's a lot of nepotism per se But nobody talks about it that way So I think that because people worship celebrities so much They're also very quick to tear them down You know what I mean

[00:25:38] So I think that that's the double-edged sword I don't think it's fair that specific celebrities are constantly targeted I don't think it's surprising either I think it's just a nature of if you And I've unpacked in my book also that you know We're not all born trolls

[00:25:52] There's something that factors that in And the two biggest factors according to You know a study that they did is mood and time of day So trolling is a much more after dark activity And it's also based on your mood

[00:26:09] So mood and environment have a much larger impact on how you behave I'll give you a small example of my own So you know harmless as it may sound For the longest time I thought LOL stood for lots of love Now it's harmless enough mistake

[00:26:25] But if you're writing a condolence message To someone who's dead relatives passed away And instead of saying so sorry for your loss Lots of love you've said Sorry so sorry for your loss Laugh out loud How horrible is that Right But you know enough time has passed

[00:26:38] And I always say that you know Comedy is just strategy plus time But these are the things that we don't realize We all think of ourselves as good people But if I were to ask you Some of the things that you've said online yourself

[00:26:50] Or some things you've commented Would you ever say that to the person sitting in front of you Would you say a hundred percent that no There's probably been something you got away with Because you didn't have to acknowledge their existence Or look them dead in the eye

[00:27:05] Even though they know who you are Even though they can identify you Because there is this and it's not just a digital thing If you think about it I had based my initial blog on that Stardust character Madam M Who used to wield this long black cigarette holder

[00:27:20] With a black cat And write Bollywood under key gossip And she never thought twice Because she was an anonymous personality Never thought twice about what she's saying about whom But now the thing is When you don't think of people as human

[00:27:34] And you think of them as a character Or just a celebrity or an actor Or a number on the screen You don't think of them as human But as soon as you think of someone as human You start to expect a little humanity That's the difference

[00:27:47] And I actually encourage people to do that I say that for all the people that worry about Oh, I only got five likes on this picture Do you even know who those five are? Or if you want that 500,000 What are you collecting?

[00:28:00] And I've also unpacked this in my second book That we're so busy trying to collect this currency of numbers And we don't even know who we've picked up on the way There's actually a theory called the Dunbar principle That the founder of Quorum Club told me about

[00:28:14] And it was fascinating because I was struggling to finish my book And then he told me about the Dunbar theory The Dunbar theory states that cognitively Human beings are capable of only having 150 Meaningful relationships at any point in their life Now this includes everyone that you know

[00:28:30] Now you have five close friends I'm sure you've heard this in the past Five close friends And out of circle of 15 closer friends 50 friends 150 acquaintances And 1,500 faces you can remember at any given point Now different people at different times Will shift within these brackets

[00:28:49] Which is why sometimes you'd run across someone And you just won't remember their face Even though you may have known them from before And I think this is the problem with social media And this Dunbar theory has come after much study

[00:28:59] And understanding what is the size of groups And where does community and society fall apart And most weddings, the core is 150 people If you look at that number Most Facebook groups or communities and even cults Are 150 people So what's fascinating about this is that

[00:29:16] And if you've seen a movie called Social Dilemma on Netflix As a human race we were never equipped to be judged By so many people so frequently and so fast As we are today So when I started writing my blog

[00:29:30] I wrote a piece of content and I would show three or four people And they would probably nicely Even if they didn't like it, say it in a way With some humanity And I would be my own judge Now the problem is

[00:29:42] Even if I don't care how many likes or followers I have I have to worry as a creator What will you think about how many likes and followers I have So I've even unpacked in the book that I wish I had so many followers and likes

[00:29:54] That I could tell you that they don't matter But unfortunately for the world People always feel that only people who don't have something Say it doesn't matter Yeah, that's true It's a very important psychological point It is And I think that's what everyone is really struggling with today

[00:30:11] And that's why I always encourage people to sort of step back And think about in this race for numbers What have you actually collected Who have you collected But don't you think numbers matter if you have to monetize Of course they do

[00:30:25] But I think that there's also been a shift in branding and brands understanding As the evolution has happened Because you might have someone with 30 million followers But the brand that's trying to sell them a Mercedes Probably not even three of them Is the target audience for that product

[00:30:41] So there is an influence of every kind of product The larger the following, the more mass the product Right And probably the lower the price point Frankly That's why micro and niche creators if you look at most luxury creators Are not in the millions

[00:30:54] But they are the ones Mercedes is running after Or all the top luxury brands are running after today Because they've understood that that's the audience That's actually buying that product But do you think that somebody who comes from a rich family background

[00:31:08] Has just about five, six thousand followers Will they also be categorized in the influencer category For a brand like Mercedes I think it would totally depend I think definitely there is this category of H&I High network individuals who have another circle Of other people like them

[00:31:24] Now logically if that person is talking about their new Rolex Or the new car they got They would probably be the more likely people to influence That circle of affluence And that circle of five thousand Is probably going to spend more money than the fifty million

[00:31:39] And that's fair enough That's just how influence works Now the thing is that the problem with all words Over time is they collect too many shades This has happened to feminism as a word before Now it's happened to influencer

[00:31:53] Which is why all influencers want to be called content creators Because the idea of how can you walk around saying That you are an influencer Who do you think you are When everybody is an influencer If I ask you to open your phones today Everybody in this room

[00:32:06] And open your Instagram And ask you do you think you're an influencer And even if you say I'm not If the follow account is more than zero Then you are You're influencing somebody Yeah That's true So everybody is an influencer

[00:32:18] Do you think that high-end brands do not care about the number When it comes to I think high-end brands are aware That it's not about not caring about the number It's caring about the right Audience Audience And the right people So it might be

[00:32:30] And the brands that are doing this well Study it very well So they'll also understand the demographic That it may not even be enough That you're a luxury influencer But are you a luxury influencer That is targeting people who travel to this part of the world

[00:32:43] So for instance If you're a luxury brand that focuses on Winter wear It would make no sense For you to focus on an influencer based out of Bombay For example I mean yeah For sure people travel and stuff But I'm saying just as an example

[00:32:57] There's various kinds of influencers And there's various kinds of brands And I think that the brands that are Doing it right are very aware Of who the influences are And they don't just go for blindly Oh this person has X amount of following

[00:33:09] Because they're also putting money behind it You know So I think that The good news is silver lining for People who are doing it right Who are organically growing and not buying followers Even though it's slow Slow and steady does win the race The cliche is true

[00:33:24] Because you can buy a huge number of followers But then over time It's just going to be obvious That it's not moving the needle for anyone Yeah yeah that's true But how much money do you think a nano influencer Can make today

[00:33:36] And who is categorized as a nano influencer Because that's where you start right Your journey of influencing Yeah nano micro you do I think the numbers are different Everyone I've seen do so many different charts I've seen nano under 10,000 I've seen you know nano under 1000

[00:33:50] So it totally depends But I think there's the basic bracket size Your nano micro which I think would probably factor Between 10 to 50,000 Then you have your macros Which is probably 150,000 up And then you have your mega star influencers Who go into the millions

[00:34:04] You know and then you have your super diamonds Whatever but then I think You have super diamond 10 million plus Yeah I don't know I mean you can do whatever you want to call it The thing is that It again it depends so much on Who you have collected

[00:34:16] And what is it that you're trying to sell them I always try to categorize And I explain to people As a content creator And I'm giving examples of Instagram primarily In this case because that's the hero platform right now Is you are either an entertainer

[00:34:29] So you're putting up content yourself Or you're a curator So you might be finding the best of content And sharing it or Or you're a educator Which means you might even be And right now you see a lot of content of people

[00:34:40] Telling you how to be a good Performer on Instagram Because that content performs really well And everyone's looking for that And then you have to think about Or you're sort of a social commentator So a pop culture observer Who is documenting things like that

[00:34:55] Which I guess also falls into the entertainment space So that's where you have to think about Where do you fall Or you're using social media as a hobby Which is perfectly fine And you have to be none of those But what the logic of social media says

[00:35:10] Is that people have ample choice And I think that you max out it I think you can follow up to 7500 people At max Even though the brain only has space for 1500 It's interesting that you You can follow all these people But you will generally follow certain people

[00:35:28] For the same kind of content So the advice that people do give you On social media at least Is pick two things that you want to Regularly talk about and focus on those Because otherwise you confuse everyone Because someone might come And that's part of the reason when

[00:35:42] Miss Malini started We had the main handle and everything was on it And then we separated Miss Malini beauty Fashion, trending, lifestyle All of that So that people who want more fashion Don't get bombarded with Bollywood For somebody who wants Who is starting from scratch

[00:35:57] They are downloading Instagram today And they wish to create a name for themselves How can they start? It could be in any industry Honestly the most important thing Is to find your uniqueness Your gap And the funny thing I came about this is that

[00:36:12] I always thought you have to be like someone else That's tried and tested and successful to succeed And so I struggled There was a big identity crisis That who am I? I'm not a Bollywood star I'm not a Kim Kardashian I didn't study fashion or beauty

[00:36:24] So what am I doing here? And then I realized that I'm a social commentator Right? And so, you know I used to look up to people like Oprah And Ellen DeGeneres And all these different people Ryan Seacrest even And say that, you know

[00:36:36] I love the idea of being the talk show host Or being the person, you know Talking to celebrities And so I tried to make a space for myself there And that was the gap And that's the uniqueness And that's why it became what it did

[00:36:48] And it's still here 15 years later I've heard that Anupamitha told me this That a brand is established When it talks to more than one generation In its lifetime And I'm proud to say that Ms. Malini now Is entering its third generation of conversation

[00:37:01] Because people who started reading my blog When I was writing in my 30s Were in their 20s Now I've had kids And now, you know They're in their second, third kids Some are maybe grandparents Who knows But I'm just like It's fascinating to me I think that

[00:37:15] For the person who's starting out today My best advice would be First of all Don't compare yourself to someone Who's been doing this for years It takes time I know that we live in the generation of instant Everything But how much time should you wait till?

[00:37:28] I mean you can't be doing for 10 years No, without 10 years But I'm saying that the patients level is so small now That there's so much I'm telling you why it comes from Instant gratification I want a date, I swipe I want food I call Zomato

[00:37:41] I want a ride I call Uber Everything is instant So you're saying wait 10 years They're not even willing to wait 10 days That's the problem Well how much should they wait? Ideally Honestly, there's no set time I can't say that in six months give up

[00:37:54] But I'll tell you what Did you have a timeline for yourself? I did I gave myself a year I said I give myself one year For this to go somewhere When I quit all my other jobs And if it didn't start sustaining me

[00:38:05] Then I would have to do this on the side And look for something full time And this is my advice to everyone The reason why I was able to build What I was able to build And I didn't know it at the time

[00:38:13] Is I had a full-time job Because this did not pay the bills If you start a social media account Wanting to be a creator Expecting it to pay the bills from day one First of all that'll never happen Or you're going to end up compromising

[00:38:24] On your quality or your content Or what you even want to write about I say two things For one The kids who want to drop out of school To do this for a living Don't drop out of school Not from a mummy lecture perspective But one

[00:38:35] That's where you're going to make your first network The most likely people to follow you And be part of that network and community Yeah, school college Your peer group in school So I'm not even saying it From an academic point of view I'm saying it

[00:38:46] From a networking point of view And the second thing is Have a day job So that you don't have to do anything Just for the money That's when you will become a content creator Of some note So my advice is You don't have to wait at all

[00:38:59] If you have a job that pays the bills Whatever job it is I used to work all day I used to have a radio job I used to work at Channel V I used to write my blog from midnight to 4 am That's how I did it

[00:39:10] For two years Before I decided to jump in Me Sleep one day But I think see it's able to do Right for the amount of hours Your doom scrolling on your phone You could do so many There's so many work from home jobs There's so many opportunities now

[00:39:29] I don't think there's any dirt There's my generation Or my parents generation There was very limited opportunities Where you could get And you had to have a 9-5 job Now there's a ton of different opportunities And if you're so interested in social media

[00:39:41] You could probably even get paid To help someone run theirs Just to pay the basic bills And so many people who are creators Who are living at home Don't have huge expenses anyway The big mistake is to say Okay, I've decided to become a content creator

[00:39:53] This is going to be my life It's just like the same thing Right You can't just show up in Bombay And join Bollywood There are people who've had to Do everything from waiting tables Whatever other kinds of jobs they had to do I think it's a mistake

[00:40:07] And it's the lazy way to say That this is what I want to do And I want the world to hand it to me Because also I feel that If it's handed to you on a platter You won't appreciate it

[00:40:15] Like without the bitter, the sweet isn't as sweet Yeah As well Yeah But you know Like It's very subjective That how much should you earn Before you make content creation Your full-time journey How was it for you? Yeah You have to be able to support yourself Right

[00:40:30] So I'm saying A full-time journey See The good thing is With content creators If you do well at your work You get a lot of perks So you save a lot of money Whether it's free meals Or free trips Or free clothes Whatever it might be

[00:40:42] But you have to do the math That's why you shouldn't give up school So you can do that budget for yourself Right Of how much money do I need Every month to survive And then do the math backwards And you'll have your answer Yeah

[00:40:53] But how much was it for you? So this is a very different time So this was in 2008 When I moved here I think I quit my job fully In 2010 or 11 So I guess it would have been my rent Which was like 30 or 40 thousand rupees per month

[00:41:07] And then whenever It was that much at that time Yeah, it still was Rent in Bombay has never been cheap That's for sure Oh my God I mean when I first moved to Bombay I used to make I think My first job I think was 7000 rupees

[00:41:18] And my rent was 5000 in a PG So I used to have You stayed with some six girls I read Yes I did Tell us more about that That was when I first moved With like Literally two suitcases and a dream And I lived in Somewhere near Andheri

[00:41:33] And my rent there was 600 rupees So just imagine It was shared rent between six girls We each paid 600 rupees And there was this pigeon That used to fly into the house at night And I wish it sounded like As romantic as Bollywood movies With their pigeons

[00:41:46] But it was not Because this pigeon would enter And fly around And I was so scared That it's going to hit the fan And there's going to be blood I was just sleeping with a sheet over my head It was very dramatic

[00:41:56] And I never thought I'd tell the story so much It's even in my book But that's how it began Then slowly Slowly I remember I used to live In a bungalow next to this Ironically named club Called Rain Because it used to rain inside my bungalow

[00:42:07] In the monsoon What? There's a bucket everywhere Then we came up with this ingenious idea To put a plastic tarp On top of the terrace So that it wouldn't rain in my room And that I remember That was a 4000 rupees rent Why How did you shift from 600 to 4000

[00:42:22] I just couldn't live with that damn pigeon anymore So then I started doing odd jobs I used to do Then I used to do a lot of like little MCing Little things like even in Delhi I used to do Standing next to the car at Pragyanthi Medan

[00:42:32] For 8 hours Wearing a Honda outfit And the you know The choker Showing giving people pamphlets I've done it all I've literally done it all Wow You've like literally Come from scratch Come from scratch Absolutely But so that's how you moved into the 4000 Vala apartment

[00:42:50] Your story is very interesting So I'm wondering Yeah sure No so when I first When I moved to Bombay I didn't have a job But I had 40,000 rupees that I'd saved from dancing Because I used to get 2000 rupees per show And I thought I'm coming with 40,000 rupees

[00:43:01] It's so much money Yeah I mean It doesn't last you very long in Bombay So it lasted me a couple of months in rent And then the 4000 rupees apartment I had like a basic job I used to work at a company called Activate Technologies

[00:43:14] That used to help set up websites for people Portals When we used to call them city portals This was after you completed your grad Yeah after graduation After yeah just after But you came to Bombay before grad No no after grad After grad After graduation

[00:43:27] So why didn't you take a job then? So I did So when I was in Delhi I was a professional dancer So I used to get paid for that And I used to work for a company called Usha Tellinette

[00:43:35] Where I used to write little tidbits about the city So I was always in this dot-comy space Before anybody really knew what to do with it And then when I came to Bombay I joined that company That ended up setting up the website for Midday called ChaluMumbai.com

[00:43:50] But ironically when I first came to Bombay I wanted to be a VJ So I had gone to audition at MTV MTV okay And I remember they very sweetly spent And I didn't know anything So I had gone with five Kodak prints

[00:44:02] Very spent five sweet kind minutes with me And sent me off my way But ironically years later I ended up joining MTVindia.com But so basically after the Activate Technologies It was this It was a company that set up the website for Midday

[00:44:16] And I had written the Bible for it Which was what should all the different sections In this website have What should the subsections be And then I left that job And I joined a company called Ideas for You Because from then my salary went from

[00:44:29] 7 to 10 to 15 and to 18 they were paying me And my job at Ideas for You was to write Fake reviews for Ideas for You Fake reviews Yeah so I would have to go to VJ sales every day And look up all the different washing machines

[00:44:43] And then look at their key points And then go back and write reviews Under different names for Ideas for You Ideas the number four U dot com And that was the job Did you like? I hate doing it Yeah it was so boring

[00:44:55] And I used to just like the colorful washing machines I didn't know anything about it I still don't know how to use a washing machine So I remember doing all of these odd jobs But just to pay the bills and be able to stay in Bombay

[00:45:04] And then while I was doing that I somebody told me there's a company called Asia Content That's hiring writers And I've always been a good writer So I went there and then I still remember my boss Now later boss Anil said I'll be honest with you

[00:45:19] We're looking for someone to run the romance channel For MTVindia.com But you have very big shoes to fill Because the lady who was running it before that was very good Ironically it was this girl who's like just my twin

[00:45:30] Her name is Jinicia and we got along very well So I joined there in my job then I got suddenly I was getting 20,000 rupees And I used to write all the content for the MTV India website My business card said channel had romance and sexuality

[00:45:43] My mother was like Yeah Fomentize what am I doing in Bombay And while I was working there One lunch break Someone told me Private radio has started Do you want to audition? So I went on my lunch break And I auditioned for with 94.6

[00:45:55] If I knew but you're not enjoying MTV I was But I thought let me say I've never had a problem doing multiple jobs So I said let me try Let's see what happens And I got the job So I used to work all day at MTV From 9 to 5

[00:46:05] And then I would go home And then from 9 to midnight I would go to the radio station And do a night shift show So I always had multiple jobs And I was completely fine with that And that way I was able to

[00:46:15] How much was the radio one paying you The radio one I think was paying me 20 or 22,000 rupees a month So then as a result I had You know Yeah, 40, 50 Yeah so it was pretty decent And I was able to pay my rent And by then my rent was 20,000

[00:46:28] So Oh It was all pieced together somehow From 600 you started Yeah And you went up to 20,000 Yeah And that's the thing That's why I always tell people It's that I don't think For me it was ever I've never said that Oh you know I can't do it

[00:46:46] Or I'm going to give up on it Or how will I manage I think that's one thing that we all have We have Jugar And the belief And it just never crossed my mind That I'm just not going to be able to do it Or I'll go back

[00:46:57] Something would just come along And I think Part of that is saying Okay instead of spending my lunch break Fafting with my friends I'll go for that audition Or instead of going home And chilling or hanging with my friends I'll go do a second job

[00:47:09] So part of it is that Like part of it is destiny Part of it is you getting your ass up and Yeah Of course Yeah But you know You said that You were doing radio jockey But today radio is very less

[00:47:22] Because there's so much of content to consume So what do you think Who wants to make a career in radio Like what's the career path for them like I don't know honestly anymore I've just been so out of touch with that I did it for nine years

[00:47:34] You are now out of touch fully I loved it so much I think that there is still listenerships But again everything is subjective But if you see now a lot of radio jockeys Are doing podcasts So if you have that skill set You can probably make that leap

[00:47:46] So I think that you know There's no skill that's unwanted Or useless as such Even writers now if you see There's a lot of writing that goes on online So there's no skill that's useless Or wasted I think that you have to just tweak it a bit

[00:48:02] To figure out what is your audience today Yeah I mean the skill set will have to be tweaked Because people are not listening to radio jockeys Having said that there are people listening Maybe we don't think they're listening But there are people still now they commute

[00:48:14] On and off I do If I'm in a cab or a car I do listen Or would you put your Bluetooth and listen to your music? No I don't do that I mean I'm still one of those like I think the only big change that's happened

[00:48:22] Is I've stopped watching television Now I'd only watched OTT But I think there is still a listenership I mean I don't know what the numbers are But it's still there And like how much do you make as a radio jockey? When I was a radio jockey

[00:48:35] The salaries varied I think I started at 40,000 And then eventually it went up to That's a lot Yeah then it went up to 1.5 lakhs At one point But that was when I was doing the evening drive show And this was in which year? I'm going to say 2007 or 2008

[00:48:47] It must have been a lot It also depends Because the highest paid are the morning show jocks And then after that The evening drive And then after that every segment has a different Oh yeah of course In the morning the listenership is more so

[00:49:02] Yeah morning and evening drive Because people are It's usually the commute To work and Interesting And then so after When you were doing your radio jockey That's when you got introduced to blogging Through your friend who told you to start Yeah because I was at the radio

[00:49:15] And I used to start You know I was to What I used to just cover stuff on my radio show In the evening I'd talk about the parties I went to And so I also wrote that as a column Yeah And that's kind of how it started

[00:49:25] And then when I was doing the column I started the blog So while I was doing the radio show I was doing the column And even though I had left MTV And I was still doing radio Then I joined Channel V As the digital content headwood

[00:49:34] Was still doing radio So I always had a show I had different shows I had Hornoke Please I had Marleneetil Midnight And then I started something called Pirate Radio Where I remember Yeah so it was this thing Where funnily enough it happened Because of Twitter

[00:49:48] There's an RJ called Meheer Joshi Who once tagged Imran Khan Saying if you like English music Certain kind of You would love Marleneetil's show At Midnight And he tagged us both on Twitter Years ago Like 2009 or 10 or something And I said oh you know

[00:50:04] I would love to have you Come host the show with me Not thinking he's ever gonna say yes It was just one of those random Where he actually did Replies I said So he said okay done If you let me call it Pirate Radio

[00:50:14] I said you can call it whatever you want And he told me why And he came and he sat And he was the first person Who came to the studio Sat with me for four hours My rule was Imran Khan From 9 to midnight Where I said

[00:50:25] The rule is you play 50 Of your favorite English songs And we won't talk about Bollywood We'll talk about the songs We'll talk about anything else That's how you started your show That's how I started Though no the show was always on But that's how I started

[00:50:37] This whole thing into Bollywood blogging Because while they were in the studio And these videos are still on my Facebook I used to take that little flip camera And record them And put it up on my YouTube This is like many many years ago

[00:50:48] So all these little things I mean I didn't even know How it was done So I used to In my old PG I used to put the curtain behind me I used to put the midday on that side And I would put my little camera

[00:50:58] And I would read the headlines of Bollywood news And put it up on YouTube as You know what's happening In Bollywood this week And these videos are still there From 15 years ago So all of this was called Trial and error Now it's much more Over the years become

[00:51:10] A very finessed Art Yeah because looking at all of this Glitz and glamour Everybody thinks That if you want to start You have to do it like this Yeah They don't see all these Yeah And I think that now It's also going back to more of a

[00:51:22] Raw thing People prefer Raw content They prefer seeing people As they are So I think that People are realizing that If you see a lot of the characters That people love Are the ones who feel very Natural and relatable Yeah But you said that From Imran Khan

[00:51:36] Your journey in Bollywood started Yeah After that How did you get to the bigger celebrities So then I started And I use social media I remember on Facebook I messaged Farhan Akhtar And I said would you like to be a guest On my show And he replied

[00:51:48] Now this is a time when Facebook and all of this was quite new So now You had a good following on Facebook No not really But that's the point This all the platforms Was so new at the time That people would reply You know

[00:51:59] So then I had Imran Khan I had Rahul Khanna I had You know different different people Rahul Bose So as a result People started coming into the studio And that's how it all began And I think it all sort of took off from there

[00:52:13] So Farhan Akhtar was your second guest Do you think he was the second guest Then there was Rahul Khanna I have to go back and see There was a whole bunch of them You're like literally Forgotten there is so much happened in your life So much is happening

[00:52:24] It's 15 years ago Yeah Yeah But who was like the biggest celebrity interview That you had Not on the radio But I mean I've interviewed everyone From Amitabh Bachchan To Shahrukh Khan To everyone The only one left on my list is Amir Khan Really?

[00:52:40] Who I've not had a sit down interview Why haven't you asked this yet? Just timing wise And he's also very Like he only comes out once in a while for Things he does Few things far between My team has interviewed them I probably was missing that day

[00:52:50] But it'll happen one day I'm sure Yeah if your team has done it already Then I think It's more successful for you That you know You've left it to your team now Yeah That they can do it without you also Yes I've also heard your story

[00:53:03] With Shahrukh Khan That when you went To meet him for the first time You had to wait for hours and hours Yeah So tell me about that That's like very interesting So that was many years ago And that was my first interview with him

[00:53:13] I think he was doing happy new year promotions And it was Independence Day And it was at his Red Shilies office And the next day They were all going off on a dance tour So I didn't know how long he's gonna You know be around

[00:53:24] And the whole thing got very delayed So my slot Slot was 7.30 It came at 4 in the morning And I'd taken my whole team And we were doing my TV show then Called Miss Malini's World And I'd taken my husband along Because I had a fun idea

[00:53:36] That I'm gonna ask Shahrukh to show him How to do the Raj Air Hug And then everyone was like Getting fried Like we should leave I said I'm not leaving Even if I stay with one camera It was at 7.30 in the evening

[00:53:47] It was supposed to be 7.30 in the evening Our turn came at 4.30 in the morning Why? Eight hours later Just because there were so many interviews Back to back They had stopped for dinner So things are always And he's notoriously known for being late But he's so charismatic

[00:54:01] That when he walked in the room Immediately everybody forgot And he was so charming And I had gone with cupcakes And we all made them play games together So we had, you know And that whole cast of Happy New He was there So I made them act out

[00:54:14] So you have Shahrukh Khan acting out Bluff Master for Abhishek Bachchan So it was all very cute So I think we were playing The kind of internet version of games That people do now Back then already Which was really like fun and easy

[00:54:26] Because people want to see the celebrities The way they are As opposed to just, you know In a gossipy fashion So I think that's something that we sort of stuck with Yeah Throughout But how is the aura of Shahrukh Khan, you know

[00:54:38] Do you think celebrities have a different aura When they come? I think so He absolutely has a very charismatic aura I think he's I mean he I think his Reason for The reason he's so successful Is just the way he fills a room with personality

[00:54:52] And he makes everyone feel special And I think that's something really special About someone like him And people like him who do that So he definitely has a lot He has literally what you call star power Yeah You know He's said this many times

[00:55:05] That he's the last of stars Like you know what stardom is really But who do you think can be a star like him From this generation of actors Because like after him Nobody has had the name That he has And before him Amitabh Bachchan of course

[00:55:21] I mean I feel like people I mean I think Ranveer Singh does a great job He's very charismatic I think Ranbir Kapoor has that aura I think in the new generation We'll have to wait and see But I think it also takes time to build that star power

[00:55:33] But what do you think about Kartikar and I mean He's had a massive fan following ever since he's come I think all I mean I have the thing is I've seen all of these people grow up So I adore them all A Varun Dhaf and a Kartik Siddharth

[00:55:44] All of them are super adorable But like you said That old school star power Also maybe comes from not having so much access to them Which there was a little more mystery Which isn't there anymore So it might be that Yeah That's actually a good point

[00:55:57] Because and why do you think that in south You know actors are worshiped like father figures You know people are crazy behind them But in Bollywood we don't see that kind of crazy in them I don't know I mean that's a good question

[00:56:09] And it takes me back to the Rajnikanth story I don't know maybe it's just from I think it's lovely Because it comes from a great place of respect I don't think they would ever tear down Their celebrities the way that it happens in Bollywood

[00:56:22] But I don't know the answer to be honest I'd love to know Yeah because it's something which we don't even see in Hollywood The kind of worshiping that happens But do you think that you spoke about tearing apart through internet roles and all

[00:56:37] So do you think that the industry is unforgiving for even the greatest of the great actors When they don't perform well in a movie or I mean the thing is I think that it's I think that the news cycle is much faster now

[00:56:50] So you could be unforgiving and get torn down But tomorrow you will be old news It's almost like that feeling of the newspaper Is gone and crumpled and now yesterday's news I have seen people trolled incessantly for a long time

[00:57:02] And had a huge impact on their mental health as well But I don't think it's everlasting I think the new thing comes along and people move along I just feel that people are much more easily triggered online And like I said don't worry about what they're saying

[00:57:17] Because they're not saying it to somebody's face Yeah but you spoke of mental health which is like the biggest health disease in an industry like Bollywood So why do you think people get so unstable in their minds Whenever something happens unlike in any other industry

[00:57:34] I mean I'm not no expert but I think that it's just I think that it's not that people don't get unstable in other industries I think that because by virtue of them being in the public eye And their whole life documented you see much more of it

[00:57:48] You might have this in all other industries too But you don't care so much about their stories Or you don't know them to witness it So I think it's just everything is heightened and amplified And so much more documented when it comes to entertainment Than anything else

[00:58:03] Because I don't think that it is less or more in any other industry Yeah but how do you as a platform to deliver content And serve to so many readers work on these issues For example taking Sushant Singh Rajput's case Into consideration you know

[00:58:18] It was being spoken about everywhere in different forms and shapes How did your platform address it So we decided that we are not going to the same thing The same rule we applied with previous gossip is

[00:58:30] We didn't want to speculate and we didn't want to make this click baity So I think we only covered the facts as in when they were released by You know authorities if there's anything specific And we didn't get into any you know

[00:58:43] There was a lot of trial by media that was done across the board Which was really unfortunate especially with Rhea So I think that was super unfair What we did I wrote a piece on why we mourned the loss of strangers

[00:58:55] Which was sort of an insightful piece on why so many people Felt so heartbroken and personally affected by his passing Even though they weren't related to him And that was because there is an affinity To a celebrity that you create a relationship

[00:59:12] That may not you know be a real one but it's very real It's an emotional bond that's why you love them So I kind of tried to approach it again with the same premise And I'm glad we did that because you know

[00:59:22] You can't use your platforms so irresponsibly to just You know say anything without realizing the long-term impacts it can have on people Yeah exactly but talking on that have you ever gotten any legal notice Over anything that you've reported especially in your early days when you didn't know

[00:59:40] The basics No I think that we learned our lesson pretty early on And I'm very grateful that neither Rajneka Anyone of those have decided to send me a legal notice I don't think he really you know noticed or cared

[00:59:52] And I think he's a pretty secure guy so it didn't bother him maybe I think that you know I've had enough face-to-face conversations with people That you know gave me that insight and it's all in my my books So please read it Of course

[01:00:06] But I think that you know yeah so I think for us I mean legal notices are the powerful cause for internet sites Whether you know if there's a picture or something But those are all handled professionally where you can take it down or you give credit

[01:00:18] But we've always been pretty good about you know following those rules Yeah you know every every publication has this line No so there's a mix right so we don't do blind items I know there's a lot of blind items where you can say anything and say someone's head

[01:00:35] But technically those sutra Cabarees are usually people who are anonymous sources within the inner circle Of a celebrity and that's quite common Oh but is it like really ethical that the inner circle gives you the information

[01:00:51] Of course it's not ethical but that's not I'm not saying it's ethical But I'm just saying that that's how gossip generally is spread Whether it's staff or somebody who has an agenda And this is not just in Bollywood this is in Hollywood This is across all industries Yeah

[01:01:05] But you're not responsible for that you're like okay it's just a piece of our Information No so we don't do that So I was saying like I said we don't do blind items and we don't say according to You know you verify it

[01:01:16] We verify it and we ask people to go on the record Okay otherwise you just write spotted if you are not sure of anything No but we don't that's what I'm saying we don't do that kind of content

[01:01:26] So I think you'll have to ask someone who does that kind of content Yeah I don't think so people do that anymore thankfully But what's your take on the pap culture? How's it evolved because you started out and now pages like Viral Bhaiani

[01:01:39] and Manav Mangalani are now super I think it's very enterprising people like Viral Manav So they used to supply pictures and then they realized they themselves have platforms which is a great evolution There's a great documentary Al Jazeera has done on the pap culture

[01:01:52] And how difficult it is to be paparazzi And how they have to really struggle to get a particular picture And it's the same thing right like we can blame the pap's all we want But there is an audience that's consuming those pictures

[01:02:04] So like I have a rule we don't do funeral spotting We don't take pictures of people attending a celebrity funeral But you see a lot of that and that's not the paparazzi's fault It's the consumer's fault that they want to see it

[01:02:15] So I think that's also something that we have to maybe turn the lens on ourselves a little bit Yeah that's actually it's very nice that you've set boundaries for your platform Yeah I think there's an audience for everything And if they want that people can go elsewhere

[01:02:33] But I'm glad that there is an audience for happy shiny fun content Yeah Still 15 years later we're able to do it And who would you envision your contemporaries as in this world of blogging and entertainment fashion reporting

[01:02:47] So I mean now it's quite divided right because there's a lot of individual influencers But we're also a media conglomerate So I don't know if there's anyone that's exactly a contemporary as such Also I mean I guess I'm just a lot more ancient

[01:02:59] So it's been 15 years since I've been doing it So I think that it's great to see that there's so many people who are specifically focused on fashion lifestyle I think Bollywood still I think there's the bigger players

[01:03:08] I don't think anyone is a real big Bollywood equivalent of Miss Malini in that sense You have you think Villa, Hangam, everyone does a great job Bollywood life So there's a lot of them and I believe a lot more in collaboration over competition anyway

[01:03:21] So I don't really look at it as you know Yeah that's why I didn't ask you competitors I just asked as contemporaries I mean I think there's a lot of them but I don't think there's any personality led contemporary in the Bollywood field

[01:03:34] That I mean that I can I look up to people like Anupama Chopra, Rajeev Masan But they're also slightly different because they're more traditional media Yeah, yeah, yeah But what do you think is and was your differentiating factor

[01:03:47] Especially when this world of content started taking shape and everybody was reporting the kind of news I think the unique thing was that you know even though we weren't we didn't know this idea of content creator influencer We were doing it from a personal perspective

[01:04:01] One person's opinion like Miss Malini I never walked around saying this is good or bad I said I love this or here's what I saw and that little anime became that influencer character for me

[01:04:11] So I think that was the USP because most other people reporting on entertainment were the larger media houses Or the big magazines so this was probably the unique voice in that And do you think like doing something like Miss Malini awards will

[01:04:26] So we have done it. We did a fashion awards We also did a calendar with Daburatnani where we featured influencers because all the actors get shot by Dabu But we did a whole calendar featuring influencers, which was really fun. So we keep innovating

[01:04:39] I'm doing a lot of things in the event space now. So I'd curate a lot of Events where I invite influencers and celebrities to come and create content together So there's always going to be evolution. And that's kind of what we pride ourselves on

[01:04:51] The fashion awards that you hosted was just Miss Malini fashion awards. Yeah, but it was all done online This is years ago. Oh, but have you thought of doing it offline? I've you know, we keep doing different sorts of events. I think there's a lot of awards already

[01:05:02] So I don't know if I want to do an award, but I'll probably think of doing something different Yeah, because like so for instance, like I said the calendar was a version of that Right, Dabu calendar had 12 great influences in it

[01:05:13] So you don't have to call it an award, but they were accolated in that way Right, right. Kousha Kapila has written a forward for your Book, right? She's given a quote

[01:05:22] Yeah, so I'm sure you must have tracked her journey also from being just a creator to a star It's incredible. Her projecta Kohli Yeah, but what does it take to get to that level because not all creators are reaching there It just takes talent and time

[01:05:36] It takes talent and hard work and the willingness to you know keep going for auditions Keep trying. I think Mithila Patkar said it best. She goes I keep going for auditions

[01:05:44] It's not like okay. I did a great show and now I'm gonna sit here and let work to come to me So I don't think there's a particular formula. I think everyone knows at the end of the day

[01:05:53] It's like you work hard you play hard you believe in yourself And you don't you know Take yourself too seriously, but don't expect so many free passes either. You know you have to do the work Yeah, and we'll read your book to get your insights on other topics

[01:06:08] Please, there are two books to the moon how I blog my way to Bollywood and the second one is under the end I love the tagline who gave it What? Which one? From blogging how you blogged your way to Bollywood Yes, I did

[01:06:20] You did yeah, you told me you were always good at writing As simple as describing exactly what I was doing Yeah, exactly but thanks for coming Balini really had a great time Me too. Thank you for having me Thank you for listening

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