That Viral Girl!
Popular actor and content creator Apoorva Arora talks about tackling fame after being part of successful YouTube shows such as Every School Romance and Filtercopy, how Internet made her popular than she ever was before and how she has to thank her family for keeping her feet on the ground.
She is a big name on the Internet, thanks to her appearances in popular web series such as Every School Romance and Filtercopy, but there was a time when the actor/content creator, Apoorva Arora ,didn’t even understand the scope of Internet, had made her Instagram account private and had her family and friends educate her about the virtual world as another medium to express herself.
“I didn’t even know back then, that it was going to be so huge. In fact I remember, I had kept my Instagram account private, and my cousin told me to make it public, because he was like ‘how else will the world know that you are doing some projects,’” she recalls.
Arora, now 26 , has always wanted to be an actor ever since she became a teenager. And before the Internet, she had been part of several TV shows and regional films as well. And while it did get some recognition, it wasn’t the same as the overnight success she became after she entered the virtual world.
“I remember I was once walking down Bandra, and back then I didn’t really realise that it is important to look a certain way. A kid recognised me and said ‘aap toh Apoorva ho na? (You are Apoorva, right?) and that’s when I realised I have to dress properly, because someone may recognise me,” she laughs as she recalls.
Be it her appearances in shows such as Every School Romance or Filter Copy, or her quirky yet relatable content on Instagram, Arora acknowledges the reaction and support she has received on the Internet. Her show Every School Romance crossed five million views within five days of its release, and Arora points that as the first instance where she understood that she was getting noticed.
“I remember my Instagram following went from 17k to 35k, right after I landed in Hyderabad from Mumbai in about two hours. Like in Mumbai it was 17k and when I landed in Hyderabad, it was 35k. I thought it was a bug or something,” she jokes.
“And then a few days later I was in Mumbai and went to a party thrown by YouTube for all the content creators. When I went there,everyone was like oh you are that viral girl, you are that viral girl. That waswhen I realised, oh what I am doing is actually being consumed and people are liking me for it,” she adds.
The validation, Arora says has helped her also come to terms with her everyday growing popularity, where, she says, she has managed to find a balance between her private and public life. “I am that person now, who just does what they like, and it’s extremely humbling to see that people still like the way you are. I still to do my errands, like buying sabzi and all, and it takes time for people to recognise me, and I really like that and extremely thankful to be able to feel that,” she says.
Her family, Arora points out has been instrumental in helping her deal with various stages of fame, and also take the right choices in her career. “It was my father, who actually told me to audition for web series on YouTube. I didn’t even know what it was. Back then, I didn’t know it was very popular, but papa told me to give it a shot, and I did,” she says.
“My parents have always been extremely supportive of what I wanted to do, ever since I was a kid. I guess that’s why nothing has changed for them from that perspective. Like meri mom ne abhi merese sabzi katwai hai!(Mom just made me cut vegetables),” she jokes. And so, Apoorva, who only wants to act for now, is extremely thankful to the medium.
“It is extremely gratifying to know, that I can share whatever I want to express or say, and people will respond to it. I don’t have to wait for a movie or a TV show to be able to do that and that’s something I will always be extremely thankful for,” she signs off.
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