BENGALURU : Avakkai, kovil vadai, kulkul, pulima and many more of these authentic South Indian dishes...city-based food blogger Shivboojitha’s Instagram page Foodzeee, with close to 5.5 lakh followers, will make you crave for these dishes after watching her videos.
The short videos on this page have also been binge-watched by Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor. On Saturday, the actor shared the avakkai (mango pickle)-making a video on her Instagram, captioning it, “Best Indian food blogger I’ve (seen) in a while.. Brilliant stuff..the food looks yummy, and I love the gorgeous Indian aesthetic (sic)”.
Needless to say, these words by Kapoor made Shivboojitha’s day. Calling it as one of the exciting things that had happened to her since she started blogging, Shivaboojitha says, “I had no idea about it since we get a lot of updates every day. One of the followers informed me about it but of course, it was exciting and overwhelming.” The appreciation means a lot to the 23-year-old blogger. “Not just because she is so famous but since they professionally deal with angles and shots better, her comment on the aesthetics of the video means a lot,” she says.
The USP of the video is she uses traditional vessels. Her mother Swarna Lakshmi’s bangle-clad hands adorned with henna, with the identity of the hosts completely anonymous, adds to the aesthetics. Shivboojitha has been running the Instagram page for the past five years but got the taste of viral fame in October 2020 after she changed her format. “I used to do the cooking initially but it was a task to manage both camera and the vessels together.
That’s when I changed the format by using traditional cookware and roping in my mother to do the cooking. After that, the reaction from my followers has been amazing,” says the foodie, who prefers to keep their identity hidden, and wants her preparations to be the star of the videos. “We don’t want to reveal our identities as of now. We are liking it that way. But I think more than me, my mother is enjoying this viral life more. Now, she also pitches in while ideating the menu or deciding how to shoot it,” she signs off.