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When Animal hit the screens last year, Triptii Dimri suddenly became the new ‘National Crush’. Her social media following also saw a massive exponential spike as from 600k, her follower count on Instagram surpassed two million in just a matter of days. At a recent event, the actor was asked about this label of national crush, and she said, “Mujhe shuru mein yahi lagta tha ki jab main actor banun, log bas mere kaaam ke baare mein baat karein, aur kisi baare mein nahi. Luckily, whenever my film have released, my work has been spoken about and all this love just motivates me to do better.”
We are just six months in 2024, and we have had multiple artists who became the ‘National Crush’. And that popularity has reflected virtually as well and on Social Media Day today, we speak to them about how this label and sudden surge of followers impacts them.
Pratibha Ranta
Actor Pratibha Ranta grabbed eyeballs in Lapataa Ladies, and then showed a completely different side of her in Heeramandi. Her Instagram following increased by 600k after these two successes and she says, “I saw a significant growth on my social media accounts after Laapataa Ladies dropped on OTT. I am grateful that because of social media I have got recognition, people tag me as ‘crush’. It’s been organic PR. And hitting a million followers does translate into better work opportunities.”
Taha Shah Badussha
Heeramandi also gave rise to another national crush, actor Taha Shah Badussha, with his Insta following going from 183k to 1.1 million followers in just 13 days. “Initially, I thought Instagram doesn’t really work for me, but its reach is exponential. You garner a family even outside of India and a lot of opportunities have opened up for me in work too. I get messages like ‘we should have always been there for you’ and ‘you truly made us believe in love’. There are people who had almost ‘given up’, but seeing my real-life story, they have got the motivation to keep going,” he shares.
Abhay Verma
However, actor Abhay Verma, who is the current favourite of social media after Munjya, doesn’t believe in this number game. He says, “I have never focused on the number of likes and comments, these are just by product of my work, which is my top priority. It just shows that you are reaching people for whom you are working for.” The 25-year-old’s Insta following grew from 98k to 467k and he adds, “The reach that I have got has been the biggest boon. I got in touch with a guy on Instagram whose mother had passed away a few months ago after battling a long illness. His father got out of the house after six months just to see Munjya and he saw his father laugh for the first time after six months. Love coming from any direction feels good, but ‘crushes’ keep changing quickly, I want to be a ‘forever lover’.”
