Shraddha Jain, aka AiyyoShraddha, needs no introduction. She won the ‘Most Creative Award – Female’ in the comedy category at the National Creators Awards ceremony on March 8. With her content, Jain has highlighted pertinent issues through the lens of humour.
As Jain told Storyboard18, the ‘weight of the award is not lost on her.’
Jain entered the realm of content creation when Covid-19 broke out – she had a lot of free time and there was no work from home. All she wanted to do with the first videos she put up on Instagram was to make her father chuckle and laugh. Before she knew it, the videos in her native Tulu language had travelled six times around the earth. And that was the starting point.
The rest is history.
Edited excerpts:
How does it feel to be recognised for your work at the national level? Could you highlight the banter between you and Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
It’s a very humbling experience. I’ve always been very careful about my voice and my platform. But now, I feel that there is a sense of greater responsibility to really use this platform to showcase the positivity of India.
Earlier it was: ‘This is entertainment and I’m using this platform for storytelling to entertain people.’ This is true even now. But now I feel that I should do more good with my platform and probably show more discipline.
The weight of this award is not lost on me and every time I write my content I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad, but there’ll be a tiny voice saying, ‘You’ve been awarded a National Creators Award. Don’t do anything silly.’
Read More: AiyyoShraddha receives Most Creative Creator – Female award by PM Modi at National Creators Awards
I don’t think I’ve asked myself this question often, but I’ve always been careful in terms of whatever I have written so far. You can be fearless but not reckless in your content. I will definitely be honest and fearless but not reckless and use this platform to do more good consistently.
Coming to my interaction with the Prime Minister, it was my first time watching him address a gathering live. He was just chatting with the audience and I think everyone who has seen him before was also pleasantly surprised at his candour and how easy the conversation was.
The weight of this award is not lost on me and every time I write my content I don’t know if it’s a good thing or bad, but there’ll be a tiny voice saying, ‘You’ve been awarded a National Creators Award. Don’t do anything silly.’
He really was in a sit-down-let’s-have-a-chat kind of mood. In fact, in the first three or four seconds of him talking to me, he said, ‘Vibe check ho gaya?’ I remember the crowd erupted.
I don’t think our parents know what a vibe check is. This was a congregation of content creators. So everyone was pleasantly surprised and we actually didn’t know we’d get a chance to interact with him on stage. When we were briefed about the protocol as to if you win an award, it was that we go on stage, receive the award, pose for a picture and leave.
We didn’t know we’re going to be having this chance to interact with him. When the awards began to be handed out, and in the first award itself, when the prime minister gave the creator the mic, we were like, ‘So, we’ll get a chance to talk to him on stage and all of this is going to be beamed to the country and the world and we’ll be there forever on the internet.’
How did you find the representation of female creators at the national level?
I consume so much content made by women. I have seen plenty of women creators on all the platforms that I have been on.
I came across creators I watch every day on Instagram and I got a chance to say hi to them. I saw Sushant Divgikr, Janhvi Singh and Ankita Sehgal. There were fashion creators and there were people who do a lot of cooking stuff. So I thought the representation was beautiful. I saw all these gorgeous talented women who have massive following and it was fabulous.
How smooth was the selection process?
It’s very difficult. I know there is a jury that decides who’s winning. But having said that, I have my own list of creators who I thought were so good and who probably did not go on stage to win an award.
With the amount of languages that we have, every region has its own superstars. Because a Hindi speaker will have a bigger market or a regional speaker will have a smaller market, it becomes very difficult to judge.
There are creators in Tamil and in Telugu with millions of followers and there are people who do content in Hindi. That’s the beauty of our country.
This is the first initiative by the government in the arena of the creator economy. What is your take on the National Creators Awards and how will it disrupt the influencer marketing landscape?
More than disrupting, it will serve as a fabulous aspiration. When I received my award, I said this is an acknowledgement that content creation is a skill. It’s a craft and this award acknowledges that.
This is the government saying, ‘We see the effort. We see the sincerity. We see the hard work you’ve put in. And we appreciate the following you have built organically.’
Brand partnerships will, of course, be there. I don’t know if one is dependent on the other. I’m sure winning a national creator award is not such a big function of how many brand endorsements or brand collaborations you’re going to get. If that was the case, then one will have to say, ‘Okay, winning a national award is proportional to how much Hindi film industry actors are going to be getting movie assignments.’
Now also, seeing the kind of people who have won the award, I think creators are going to also sort of think: ‘What does quality content mean?’ How can they contribute to nation building using the platform that they have? Not just nation building, but nation positivity?
Otherwise, what aspiration did we have? Let’s increase our following. Abhi isse bada validation kya hai?
Brand partnerships will, of course, be there. I don’t know if one is dependent on the other. I’m sure winning a national creator award is not such a big function of how many brand endorsements or brand collaborations you’re going to get. If that was the case, then one will have to say, ‘Okay, winning a national award is proportional to how much Hindi film industry actors are going to be getting movie assignments.’
But that’s not the case, right? Business decisions are going to be independent of this award because what drives these collaborations is pure numbers and brand fitment.
You have highlighted crucial issues in the country through the lens of humour and you have enacted characters right from Mrs Kulkarni to Malati Akka. What drove you to highlight important matters humorously?
I am very proud of the different cultural influences in my life. Showcasing these cultural influences and cultural nuances in my content is also my way of staying connected with them and never sort of letting them fade away from my personality.
I love the fact that I speak Marathi and its culture is so deeply ingrained in me.
I’m also very proud of my Dakhshina Kannada roots. I am a proud Bangalorean. It’s a way for me to sort of stay connected to all of these influences. While there is a lot of dialogue and a lot of discussion about a lot of current issues, there is also space to look at it from a very different lens and from a very different point of view.
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It’s also nice to see from the point of view of somebody who actually lost his or her job. What would it be like?
Whether it is the layoffs, climate change, or saving trees, I try and see if there is a point of view that has probably not been picked up yet. Is it a fun point of view and if possible, that would be very nice to see if it can give hope, isn’t it?
I try to stay optimistic in every situation and that’s why my content is in the optimistic space.
Since you became a content creator, how have brand partnerships changed over the years? After the win, how has the scenario changed for you?
I am extremely selective about the brands I work with. I do very limited brand collaborations every month. For me, it is very important to work with clients who understand how content creation and this kind of collaboration with the content creator works. A lot of brands look at this as they would look at a TVC (television commercial). So, I like to work with brands that understand the difference and brands that don’t want to be too patronising.
Now what I see is a lot of brands that are very pro-Indian are approaching me. A lot of brands that stand for very clean, honest business practices and sustainable manufacturing are reaching out to me, which is fabulous because I want to work with such people.
I am working with a brand that’s working towards raising very cheap loans for farmers. I am in talks with somebody who is now making fabric using 100 percent recycled raw material and organic colours, hand-painted designs. Hence, carbon footprint is very low and employment generated is high.
I am extremely selective about the brands I work with. I do very limited brand collaborations every month. For me, it is very important to work with clients who understand how content creation and this kind of collaboration with the content creator works.
I have worked with a lot of brands that are really looking at making a very positive difference and not just profit.
Are finance brands also approaching you?
Plenty. However, I am finding it very difficult to integrate financial brands into storytelling. It’s a very difficult job. I have tried it in the past. So, I have worked with ICICI, Bajaj Allianz, Kotak, and IDBI. But, it’s not easy. Somehow, I feel four percent interest pay, eight percent interest pay, take this gold loan or take this insurance is not what I want to do.
I feel financial instruments should be endorsed and should be spoken about by people who really understand this subject well. I don’t feel too confident selling financial instruments of any kind now.
However, I work with the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in spreading awareness about financial frauds – I feel it’s imperative and there is a need to raise awareness about financial literacy, about knowing your rights, about frauds in this space.
Of all the creators felicitated, whose work stood out and why?
There was this person called Lakshay Dabas (chief executive officer of Organic Acre), who was felicitated as the most ‘Impactful Agri-Creator.’
I learnt about a content creator I did not know of called ‘Heal the Himalayas.’ This person is actually clearing garbage from the Himalayas and I found that extremely inspiring.
I was thrilled to see Revant Himatsingka, aka ‘foodpharmer.’ But he did not win. And he’s doing such a fab job.
Why are you called ‘AiyyoShraddha’? I’m really curious to know
I did not want to be on social media. I was in radio before joining content creation. Then my bosses said it’s a companywide mandate – ‘you have to be on social media since all our radio jockeys are on social media.’
That sort of frustrated me because I believed as a radio jockey, it’s a theatre of the mind. Nobody should see my face, but only hear my voice and each person should have their own version of Shraddha in their mind. I romanticised radio a lot.
Out of sheer frustration, I said that I am going to call the page ‘AiyyoShraddha.’ Because I was in that ‘Aiyyo’ state of mind.
I distinctly remember my manager telling me, ‘Such a negative prefix you have.’
I said it is what it is. I didn’t want to be on Facebook. But you are forcing me, right? There it is, ‘Aiyyo.’
In the awards, the category that was missing was finance. What is your take on this? 2023 was a very eventful year for finfluencers. How did SEBI’s actions affect so many things for you on a brand partnership level or as a content creator? Will such incidents erode the trust factor of the influencer economy?
Absolutely. I had this conversation with SEBI. They told us about how people with little or no credibility who advise people on financial matters are actually making tall claims.
This has caused a lot of distress where people have lost money. In the financial space, even I feel that people who really have the credibility to talk about financial matters should be discussing or commenting on these things.
When it comes to exploiting someone’s vulnerability, or aiming for virality, I think it’s extremely unfair. But, having said that, do we have some great finfluencers? Do we have some people who are really trying to educate and are doing their best? Yes.
I feel financial instruments should be endorsed and should be spoken about by people who really understand this subject well. I don’t feel too confident selling financial instruments of any kind now.
I’m not sure why it was not included, but I feel that there’s a lot that needs to be cleaned up in this space.
How has the influence economy developed since you entered this arena? How far do we still have to go?
I still feel our primary influencers for all of us are the people who are closest to us. For example, our friends and parents. It is people we look up to in our immediate circle.
If you ask me whose opinion or who can really influence me, it depends on what subject I’m looking for guidance on. That’s why when it comes to diet or food, I definitely want to see somebody where there is a reason as to why I need to believe what you say.
There are too many people advising me on what kind of moisturiser I need to put and what kind of foundation I need to use. So, is there a dearth of advice on the internet? No. But, who do you trust?
If you want to be an influencer, you have to build credibility. But how many of them are ready to do that?
I think viewers or followers are also educating themselves. And influencers realise that they need to show people what they are bringing to the table. I think the best influence happens when you’re not trying to influence. I wish brands would understand that.
Before influencing, the first question should be, ‘Are you the expert in this matter?’
Will the National Creators Awards spotlight the influencer economy on a global level?
Like I said, the National Creators Awards acknowledge the tribe, the people who create impact. I think the National Creators Awards acknowledge the fact that there are people who are not movie stars, athletes or politicians, but can have a significant impact through their platforms.
Decisions that marketing teams or brand managers take pertaining to who they want to endorse their brand have a whole other list of factors. Just because you are in the list of the National Creator Awardees, probably is not such a big tick.
But I think that the National Creators Awards as a whole acknowledge the impact that this platform or this medium has on consumers.