Excited, overwhelmed, jet-lagged, stressed, exhilarated, dazed... some of the words that India’s best-known digital creator Niharika NM uses to describe her current state of life. She had barely landed in Bengaluru from Los Angeles a week ago, and she was already on a call with superstar Yash discussing a collaboration with him for a promo Insta reel. Yash’s highest-grossing Kannada film KGF Chapter 2 released last Friday. “Yash is such a cult star and it was so much fun to parrot out his punchline ‘violence loves me’ in the reel,” says the 24-year-old influencer with 2.8 million followers on YouTube and Instagram. Niharika trended on social media soon after and the Insta reel crossed 3.5 million views in under 24 hours. So how does she do it every single time?
Like in her videos, she speaks colloquially offscreen and instantly wins you over. “I don’t know, it just happens da,” she says. Two months before the pandemic hit the world, this computer science engineer from Bengaluru moved to Los Angeles to pursue MBA.
“I was missing home, friends, college, food, and socialising. I was anxious, feeling lonely and not in the best mental space. I was looking for an outlet and trying to be funny seemed like a good antidote for what I was going through. I was tinkering around with my phone and made some random videos to keep myself engaged in 2020. One of the videos called ‘One-way street to address breakups’ was hilarious. That went viral and one thing led to the other. I really cannot tell you the secret sauce to my videos as I don’t know it myself. I do content going by my gut instinct without thinking too much. That works, perhaps,” she says.
You’ve got to believe her because Niharika’s journey from 100k followers in October 2020 to one million mark exactly two months later is now a case study at Chapman University, California, where she was pursuing her MBA. Currently, she is in an elite bracket of 0.32 percent of users who have this kind of reach (according to the Mention xHubspot Instagram Engagement Report 2020). She has also been the only creator to be chosen as one of the global ambassadors of ‘Creators for Change’, a YouTube initiative, twice in a row, and is among the Indian influencers who have engaged audiences on relevant social issues such as staying safe online and avoiding trolls.
Born in Chennai and brought up in Bengaluru, Niharika counts everyone from comedians Jim Carrey to Rowan Atkinson and Brahmanandam to Vennela Kishore among her inspirations. “If all else fails, I turn to my friends and family because they’re all absolute clowns,” she says. Her brand of observational comedy mixed with relatable characters around us and a smattering of Kannada, Tamil and Telugu make her content appealing.
“I have aunts, uncles and cousins who speak multiple South Indian languages. Hanging out with them during the holidays has helped me pick up the languages and accents. That comes in handy during content creation,” she says. So what’s next for her? Standup comedy shows or a book or a movie role? “I want to do long format videos, skits and sketch comedy. Now, next level only macha,” she signs off as she digs into the masala dosa her mother serves her.