Astuti Anand took a year off to focus on overcoming NEET and almost forgot about her passion for acting. She currently has over 1 million followers across her social media platforms for comedy videos, making her one of the most popular content creators in Bihar. . From her wedding videos to skits on Nibbanibi (North Indian slang for teenagers), Anand's content has deeply touched every Bihari because of her relatability and her impeccable comic timing. It resonated with me. But what makes her skits stand out is her on-point dialect. Be it playing her mother or various relatives, Anand has mastered every emotion of her traditional Bihar family.
Anand, 24, decided to put his studies on hold to focus on creating content on social media. Astuti Anand, from Samastipur, Bihar, spoke to indianexpress.com about her activities on social media and her decision to quit physiotherapy to pursue acting. She talked about her parents' reaction.
“I dropped out of school for a year to prepare for NEET. I came to Delhi to prepare, but it didn't happen. My mother told me to drop out for another year, go abroad, or attend a private school in India. I wanted to enroll in university. But I didn't want to study the same thing for another year, so I chose physiotherapy at LPU (Lovely Professional University) in Punjab. It ruined my life and my passion for acting almost disappeared in those few years,'' she said in Hindi.
“However, our university still held cultural activities online. Classes were also online, so I stayed home. One day, I wrote a notice on my university application about an upcoming online cultural festival. I took it and thought why not give it a try and see what happens,” she added.
Anand, who was completely new to stand-up comedy, decided to give it a try and entered a competition featuring senior theater artists from his university. She secured the third place and rekindled her acting talent for the first time in four years. “I won third place in stand-up comedy. From there, I started thinking that maybe I could do comedy. After that, I created an Instagram account, but the only videos I had were lip-syncing. At the time, I created an Instagram account. had only 162 followers. I started posting videos regularly, but they didn't get many views,” Astuti said.
Be it comedy sketches or social commentary, most of the characters played by Anand are inspired by real-life experiences, quirks, and emotions. Regarding her own creative process, she said she often goes out looking for content. “I take a walk down memory lane for content. I remember my school life. To be honest, I am the character I play. I am not a maid or an aunt. I am nothing. My mother is 1 She calls me twice a day and tells me a lot of panchayat (gossip). She talks to me for an hour every day about her in-laws, her mother's family, and herself. “They'll talk about that, or that their dad did something like this today,” she said.
“I never stop thinking. If I need other ideas, I go outside. I go out on the road and sit and watch what people are doing. So something like that For example, I learned the concept of negotiation. Or someone's mom is saying, “Hey, that's what I'm talking about.” Why not deliver it?” the content creator continued.
Born into a middle-class family in Bihar, Anand introduced content creation to his family as a new career. Although her Instagram follower count and her YouTube subscriber count were impressive, convincing her mother about online safety remained difficult. “My mother didn't want me to quit my studies. She still has the impression that the internet is not a safe space, especially for girls. They want their kids to be independent. So when I started earning money, she understood that I could be independent,” she said.
Anand also mentioned how her brother encouraged her and supported her unwaveringly till the end. “My brother persuaded his mother more than me. He always told me to do whatever I thought was best for me,” she praised her brother. did.
Social media can be taxing for content creators and social media influencers, especially because of trolls. It takes a thick skin to deal with online negativity, but Anand has never been afraid of it. When asked how she deals with internet trolls and mental stress, she said: “At first I cried all day long. I used to overthink every bad comment. Then I realized that on the platform I'm on, people will say good things and bad things. Therefore, its goodness. I have learned to accept these things. Now, when someone says something to me, I completely ignore it. But when I get stuck, I reply. Sometimes I think it's better. So I respond with love, I pin them, and my followers take care of them.”
Many people think that becoming a public figure requires little effort, but there are certainly days when the creative tap doesn't flow. Unlike others, Anand does not believe in feeling stressed and she takes long naps instead. “Main so jaati hun (I sleep),” she laughs. “After I go to bed, I think, okay, I'll do it the next day. When I sleep all day and wake up the next day, I have a different energy inside me. And I have a lot of concepts, but… , I think most of it is in the bathroom,” she added.
Anand, who was popular as a mischievous child in his childhood, wants to work in a daily television soap just to fulfill his mother's wish. “My mother loves TV serials, so I would like to work in a TV serial someday. We are currently in negotiations and something big might happen by September this year,” she concluded.
Astuti Anand has 1.4 million fans on Instagram and over 7,62,000 subscribers on YouTube.
