At the age of 22, most Indians are worried about life, how their career will turn out and what to do next. Dharna Durga worries about connecting with her 300K Instagram followers, which posts people like the most, and how to balance brand integration with a platform that’s all about authentic engagement.
In most of her sketch videos and reels, Durga (@dharnaaaaa) plays characters that may sound familiar: relatives, filmy stepdaughters and brothers-in-law. She knows a cliché when she sees one. Watch every Bollywood gossip video. She plans to shoot the video at her home in Delhi. They are low-budget, but high-impact.
Dharna online is like thousands of comic hopefuls. But her work is straightforward and funny because she is broken. She finds humor where others don’t: every beauty parlor auntie ever, every chemist shop visit, every sibling, every travel companion, be it a hair oil ad, every lawyer in 90s Bollywood movies, or every mother during Diwali. And she commits to every role.
Take it from the top
Durga was studying at Delhi University when her story really began. Confused about whether to join a dance group or a theater society, she thought that the stage would give her an opportunity to sing, dance and act. Durga enthuses, “Though I enjoyed dancing, I realized I loved acting even more. She says everything enthusiastically. It is clear that she is passionate about the videos she makes.
The pandemic brought campus life to a halt. This left Durga with all energy and no creative outlet. So, he and his friends send each other video challenges, clips of themselves acting out different characters while stuck at home. Hers ended up being particularly funny – and her friends asked her to post it on Instagram. “At that time I was not even on social media. I felt it was a waste of time, posting stories every day and what not,” says Durga with a laugh.
But she published her first video in May 2020. “It was me as a character called Bubble, quarantined at home, watching TV, playing Ludo – the day-to-day routine,” she recalls. It’s become enough that she’s been sharing a lot of clips.
Then, a post, a 30-second expectation vs. reality video about dancing at a wedding, went viral. Fashion stylist Komal Pandey shared it, along with a shot of Durga’s arm. It received more than 25 million views. “Comedy influencer Kusha Kapila also left a comment,” she says. Durga realizes that she has shattered.
But her biggest success to date is her March 2023 reel, Every Dance Teacher Ever, which has nearly 1.5 million views and over 9 million likes. Actress Deepika Padukone recently posted it on her Stories and captioned it: “This is my life now”.
Keeping it real
That’s a sentiment that echoes in his comment sections. Her jokes land because she keeps them simple and accessible. Viewers scrolling through the tropes can identify with every Punjabi mother, every security guard in Bollywood movies or every bus conductor.
“Everyone has something in common, everyone is looking at the same thing,” says Durga. “I try to keep my content as desi as possible so that I can reach as many viewers as possible.
She shot one reel, Delhi Aunties in Winter, with a group of aunties in a park, celebrating the stereotype, giving the sketch an authentic feel. Every Page 3 journalist on Bollywood movies got her thumbs up from fashion, heroine and Page 3 filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar. He shot desi mothers while traveling in trains, earning praise from actor Aparshakti Khurana.
“Everywhere I look, I see characters,” says Durga. “When I see someone and think, ‘Hey, that’s something I can copy,’ I go home and think about how I can turn it into a reel.”
This probably stems from childhood habits. “Whenever I went to see a film, I would go straight back home and act out the character I saw on screen. Or, if I meet someone whose way of speaking is interesting or a little different, I imitate them in front of my friends,” she says. “Now, I have a platform to do the same thing, and it’s being watched by a lot of different people. That’s the only difference.”
With fame comes brand partnerships and advertisements, which often kill the mood on social media. Durga has managed to slip through the ranks seamlessly. In her clip Every Self-Declared Fortune Teller Aunty, she weaves in a basmati rice brand sponsor so deftly, fans appreciate how she pulled it off in the comments. “I only partner with brands that give me the creative flexibility to be myself, 100%,” she says. “Some people only want to show ads or 15 seconds of their product. I have to tell them no,” she revealed.
Durga says she started doing video poses for fun. “I never thought I’d explode like this,” she says. That doesn’t stop her from getting a little starstruck every now and then. “Whenever I see a comment or repost from someone I like or like, I run to my mom to show her,” she laughs.
She is still slowly getting used to the fact that people recognize her now when she goes out to the mall, telling their friends when they see them or approaching her for pictures. But it’s something she’ll have to get used to soon, if she wants to realize her ultimate dream.
“Acting,” she says firmly. “I want to make it as an actor.”
Paving the way: These female digital creators did it first
Srishti Dixit
@srishtipatch
Entertainment reporter and content creator for Buzzfeed India Now an established content creator in her own right, Srishti finds the humor in almost any situation (like What to Do When a Ghost is Haunting You) and uses it to her advantage. Another of his advantages: a cat. Patch features on several of his reels.
Kusha Kapila
@kushakapila
From playing Billy Maasi and South Delhi Aunty to creating beloved characters such as Guru Ma, Coco Bhaiya, Sunita and many more, Kapila has featured in Netflix’s Masaba Masaba. She still regularly posts reels like Me Lying to My Friend’s Parents Like A Pro. If you like Kusha, consider following Dolly Singh too, whose characters South Delhi Girl, Raju Ki Mammi and Guddu Aunty are also hilarious.
Anisha Dixit
@anishadixit
Older fans know this German-Indian comedian and digital producer by his previous handle: Rickshawali. Her clips look at relationships, husbands, parents, sex education, and cultural differences, sometimes with fun surprise guests like John Abraham and Tiger Shroff.
Shraddha Jain
@aiyyoshraddha
Bangalore-based Jain posts videos in Kannada, Hindi, English, Marathi and Tulu, and switches between characters, languages and voices. She keeps a close eye on the news. Remember that clip he did earlier this year about the big cuts in tech?
From HT Brunch, May 06, 2023
Follow us at twitter.com/HTBrunch
Connect with us at facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch