GROWING UP IN Bengaluru, comedian Niharika NM, imbibed the culture and accents that now make viewers connect to her hilarious skits and sketches on Instagram Reels. The 23-year-old’s videos, where she reacts to humourous situations in a stereotypical Bangalorean accent, are trending online. Whether it’s talking about late texters, letting a loved one go or ill-mannered pets, her distinct style has won her more than five lakh followers in just a couple of weeks.
“I usually get most, if not all of my ideas when I’m interacting with my friends and family. In fact, I’m pretty sure that 95 percent of the videos I make and the characters I play are definitely based off of people I know,” says Niharika. The content creator earlier used to make long format YouTube videos, such as Types of Students Before An Exam to Types of People at College, that were also very popular. But the new set of videos have gone viral. She says that as she comes from a South Indian family, making these videos makes her feel very connected to her roots. “My dad and uncles have a similar accent. And I used to imitate it when I was younger. I’ve been doing it for so long that sometimes I forget what I actually sound like. I also grew up watching a lot of Telugu and Tamil movies and they definitely played a huge role in the type of humour that I gravitate towards,” says the artiste who is currently pursuing her MBA in the US.
Her videos take anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours to make. “It honestly depends on how creative I’m feeling. I just jot down ideas on my notes app whenever something comes to me and then I look back at it when I need to make a new video. I make sure to create content when I’m in a good mood and never try to force it just to upload something,” Niharika shares, when asked about her creative process. Although she has taken a break from her YouTube videos, she plans to get back into it soon. “The pandemic was overwhelming at first because I had just moved countries and was away from my family,” she says, adding, “Quarantining by myself wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world and I wasn’t in a great headspace to be funny. However, over the past couple of months I really started getting back into creating content and here we are.”