Shooting for the stars
All of 17, YouTube chat show host Hanee Chavan has the biggest names in her studio.
For a 17-year-old, Hanee Chavan is curiously resourceful. For one, her YouTube chat show has an enviable line-up of guests — Ranveer Singh, Sonam Kapoor and Malaika Arora Khan, for instance, have graced her couch. Daughter of a managing director of an events company and a standard 12 student at Podar International School, she has so far gotten more than two lakh hits on her videos that have been up since August.
Hanee insists that the celebrities agree to come on her show because of the novelty of its concept. On a called patched by her public relations manager, she says, “I just approach their managers. What gets them interested is the concept of my show. I didn’t want to cash in on what the celebrities are already famous for and have the same monotonous conversations about their movies and personal life. I wanted to know about their undiscovered side, and talk about topics that matter to teenagers like me. For instance, Ranveer Singh is such a cool person now as a celebrity, but what was he like when he was my age? Malaika Arora has always been such an influential person, but how is she as a mum — is she strict or cool? Sonam Kapoor has more to her than glamour and style. I have always wondered this and so have several teenagers like me. And this is why I got to talking to them.”
Ask her if her parents intervene to help bag the big names and the young chat show host reiterates that they are ‘supportive’ like most parents are. Hanee is quick to mention that she isn’t doing this for monetary benefits either. “That’s not why I’m interested in making these videos. I just want my voice to be heard and reach as many people on a large platform like YouTube,” she clarifies. Her talks focus on social issues relevant to girls her age — body shaming, skin problems, and dealing with peer pressure in college are a few of these. Calling herself the “common average teenager”, Hanee manages her school and channel simultaneously and says it isn’t as difficult. “Being a multi-tasker has worked out in my favour. Sometimes my friends from school help me with notes and studying. I’m not going to say balancing these two is the easiest thing I do; it does get tiring at times, but working hard is the only way forward,” she adds.