As Kusha Kapila walked out of the auditorium, she was trailed by groups of young people with their cell phone cameras turned to selfie mode. ‘M’am, just a picture.’ ‘M’am, I am your fan,’ they went. Kusha who dons the role of Billi Maasi, Monday Mood and many more characters on Instagram, is the person we follow for some daily motivation. Dressed in green with a pair of pointed toe pumps, Kusha obliged selfie seekers, assuring those who couldn’t get one, that she would be back in the same auditorium shortly. Does all the attention annoy Kusha? “Of course not! We are here because they follow us; they are our asset. All they want is a photo. With actors it is different, crowd wants to touch them, so they need to be extra cautious,” she says.
Sitting down to chat, Kusha acknowledges a few hellos from fans with a smile, a nod or a quick wave. With more than 667k subscribers, Kusha was at the InfluencerCon to discuss responsible influencing. “I aim to make content that is relatable across age groups. Content that uplifts me, uplifts other women. I want it to be cathartic, sort of create a chain reaction of spreading a positive, happy mindset. Danish Sait had told me once, ‘My (his) content is meant for all age groups, so is yours (Kusha). That’s a feedback I treasure because Danish is an amazing person and I love his content.” says Kusha.
Though public speaking isn’t new for Kusha, talking to followers who look up to her is. The youtuber-write-actor says she was an active orator and debater in school but not even in her dreams had she imagined herself to be where she is.“But my mother’s panditji believed so. He had foretold fame for me,” she laughs.
On becoming Billi Maasi
Before Kusha became Billi Maasi, she was an entertainment and fashion writer and feels the entertainment platform gave her the biggest break. “They trusted me and let me do my work. Apart from experience, I gained a lot of knowledge,” shares Kusha.
“All of us have something we are good at. So we need to find it and give it a little chance, with some care and caution. Going solo is not as easy as wrapping a gift box. It will come with many layers and many difficulties for which we must prepare first. I went solo after working for seven years and I will be lying if I say I wasn’t nervous about it.” says Kusha.
After having worked for seven years, Kusha wanted to explore more content. Billi Maasi was Kusha’s idea which fell in place while doing imitations of South Delhi girls . “Santu Misra, my creative director/video director, heard it and said this resembles the south Delhi girls, who don’t we develop this and give it a name. Thus came Billi,” she giggles.
Responsible influencing
The artiste feels her content shapes up the way it does because she takes her writing very seriously. “It is very important that as someone in the entertainment industry we are honest with what we putout for our viewers to see. If I am doing a partnership promotion with a brand that makes face creams for women, I better tell what worked for me and what didn’t. Same goes with our moods. Someone once asked me, over an AMS (ask me something), ‘how can you be so happy always?’ If I had replied, ‘I am always happy’ it would be a lie. At the end of the day we are human beings, we feel sad, angry and annoyed. I too go through these moods.
Another very important issue is that of mental health. It was very brave of Danish to come out and speak about it. Kudos to Deepika Padukone who started this in India. Discussing going through depression can help someone else going through it. Many people don’t open up. There is no need to judge them or become insensitive towards their feelings,” says Kusha.
Redefining success
“Now just because my friend owns a house, I who live on rent shouldn’t feel like a failure. I am paying my rent, I am doing a job, I am well off, I am able to take my life forward. This is success to me. Comparing and wanting to be someone else or get what the other person has , isnt how we must define success.”
The big screen
Kusha will be soon seen in in Ghost Stories, a new Netflix Indian original film that has been announced for 2020. The anthology horror film will have four segments directed by Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap. “The project is right up my alley and I get a chance to work with Karan Johar,” beams Kusha.
