I won’t work for any brand that stands against the values I believe in: Saloni Gaur
In today’s Influencer Series, the young achiever talks about her journey into the world of content creation
Today, Saloni Gaur is one of the most successful content creators in the Indian internet space with a following of 656K on Instagram and 282.8 K on Twitter. Known for her humorous take on socio-political issues displayed by a bouquet of characters like ‘Nazma Aapi’ and ‘Kangana Runout’, Gaur recently made her acting debut with the web show ‘Campus Diaries’ on MX Player. Earlier, she had also hosted her own variety show on Sony Liv called ‘Uncommon Sense with Saloni.’ And all of this happened just within four years of her putting out the first video on Instagram, which interestingly was not even made with the purpose of becoming a content creator.
In a recent chat with exchange4media.com, the 23-year old shared, “I never consciously planned to become a content creator on Instagram. In fact, when I created my first video in 2017, I had no idea that content creation could be a legit career option. I thought that only YouTube videos could get monetised.”
Gaur further noted that she wanted to be a stand-up comedienne and because she could not go for shows because of curfew timings in her hostel, she figured a way to keep herself entertained by making these short videos for the ‘Gram.
“I don’t know, but I had this notion that stand-up comics could only perform at night at certain clubs. Funnily, I even had planned that I would work in a bank in the day and save money to start my career in comedy while doing some shows in the night. And since curfew timings were quite strict in my hostel, I didn't even try to explore the comedy scene in Delhi, which I now realise is quite elaborate. I used to watch their videos and used to think that I can crack these jokes and make videos. But again, I did not have the bandwidth to make long-form YouTube videos because of studies, so I started with creating short fun clips for Instagram, which my friends started loving.”
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Gaur went viral a little more than a year later with her character Nazma Aapi, whose video went viral around Eid in 2019. The character further became synonymous with Saloni as it continued making repeated appearances and talking about matters of socio-political relevance.
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Hello everyone NAZMA AAPI is back with a bang. DON'T FORGET TO SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND ALSO COMMENT YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE VIDEO.#DelhiAirEmergency #DelhiBachao #DelhiPollution #Delhi #funny #pollutionkills #sunday #pollution pic.twitter.com/WJBCAvIx6a
— Saloni Gaur (@salonayyy) November 3, 2019
“I was initially creating videos for my own entertainment and it was always fun to get compliments from friends in college. But once my first video picked up, I felt a certain sort of responsibility to share more content and entertain the audience. My brother (Shubham Gaur) helped me a lot in figuring out my work post. He never tells me what to do, like a typical elder brother, but lets me plan out things on my own and then guides me on things to avoid,” Gaur quips.
On being asked whether she faced any restrictions from family for choosing an off-beat career, she replied, “I don’t relate to Ishan Awasthis (from Bollywood film Taare Zameen Par) at all. Luckily, I did not have any such problems in following my dreams. While my mother always wanted me to get a job in the banking industry, my parents were on-board with my decision as soon as I broke the news to them. Their only concern was why both of us (her brother and she) were getting into the same industry.”
She added, “In fact, I would attribute my confidence and skills to the environment that we had in our house while growing up. We were always allowed to speak our minds even when we wanted to say something completely nonsensical. We were pretty much engrossed in current affairs as well. I remember listening to Akashwani on our transistor, that was the first thing we did every morning. After that, we used to fight for who gets to read the newspaper first. While I initially started reading papers to get some attention in the school assembly as I had no other skills like singing and dancing, I eventually got interested in it a lot more. My father always encouraged us, siblings, to discuss the happenings around the world.”
Gaur happily shared that she was never a shy child and that helped her in easing out in front of the cameras as well, “While getting into acting was not a plan initially, I started auditioning for roles some time back. My first show (Uncommon Sense) was more similar to the kind of content I made, but ‘Campus Diaries’ turned out to be a great learning experience. When I saw my co-stars on the sets and the amount of hard work they put in to get the scenes right, I realised how difficult yet fun the whole process is. I could not have asked for a better show to get into acting as the character was of my age, the story is very similar to what you and I would have experienced in college.”
On being quizzed about the brand deals and her approach to them, Gaur shared that she doesn’t like to overthink that part of her job. “I got my first brand deal quite early in my content creation career. It was about an app where people could share their thoughts and no abusive or negative comments/content was allowed. It was very much in line with what I was doing. And I was quite happy that I got that. Bhaiyya (Shubham Gaur) helped me in getting the finances for that right. And I was happy with the money too because I had no responsibilities. My family was paying for my studies and hostel, bhaiyya was sending me pocket money. So everything else was just extra money.”
She concluded, “Even today, I am getting deals from very relevant brands and my brother is helping me get through the details and deals. I am sure I won’t work for any brand that stands against the values I believe in – like I won’t promote alcohol or cigarette brands. But I am open to working with every brand category and creating good content for them.”
