All the Bisht to a TVF star

She has written, directed and acted in some of the most popular on-line viral videos but she catapulted to instant fame for impersonating the queen of television Ekta Kapoor in the video The Making of A Decade Long Daily Soap. Meet Nidhi Bisht, one of the creative director’s of the popular online youth comedy group, The Viral Fever (TVF). TVF is the first web content generating company in India that seamlessly blends reality and parody in their creation ushering in a new genre of entertainment and Nidhi’s background in theatre played a pivotal role among the group of aspiring film-makers in TVF. From conceptualising to casting to writing scripts, Nidhi effortlessly adorns all roles. She is the eye behind roping in actors like Sumeet Vyas and Abhay Mahajan for the role of Mikesh Chaudhary from the Permanent Roommates series and Saurabh Mandal from TVF Pitchers, respectively. But the journey has not been a cake walk.

A law graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia, she quit her lucrative job as an advocate, to pursue her career in the field of film-making. She says, “Bollywood played a significant part in my growing up so much so that after my 12th, I wanted to study English Honours and work with a theatre company alongside. But it was never a full-time career option. My dad wanted me to become a doctor but when I was unable to follow physics and maths in my XIth, he allowed me to shift to humanities. He expected me to do law as I was a good orator. So, I studied law at Jamia Millia Islamia and practiced for little more than a year at Delhi High Court.”

But, the actor in her was not satisfied with the kind of role she could enact as an advocate in a courtroom and wanted to experiment more. “When I was practicing in court, I was happy to an extent that I could do a little acting in the courtroom. But, I soon realised that what I was expecting was way different from reality. The courtroom was nothing similar to the Bollywood setting and at times, when I turned into self-analysing mode, I felt that this is not where I belong,” shares Nidhi.

That is when she decided to quit her job and shift to Mumbai to pursue her passion — theatre. She states, “The theatre scene is very different in Mumbai and there are many good groups producing amazing plays. I soon realised it won’t be easy to establish myself in this city. But, if you are hardworking, there is no dearth of work. Initially, I used to get smaller roles or ‘Proxy Ninja’ (when an all-ready finalised actor drops out in the last minute due to other commitments, I was used as a filler). People started recognising me as an actor but I was not getting meatier roles.”

She formed her own theatre group called “New Brain Theater Volks” and started producing entertaining content. “I formed a theatre group to produce entertaining acts. I do not believe in creating content only for a social message, it has to be entertaining as well. My focus always has been to create entertaining content. So, we made adaptations of some classic plays with aspirations of making theatre a sustainable business model. Actors enjoy doing theatre the most as it is our medium. But unfortunately, we never have enough funds and so, we look for work outside theatre. So far, we haven’t succeeded on the sustainable front but we’re working towards it,” she explains.

She was introduced to Arunabh, CEO and founder of TVF through a common friend and after the viral video Rowdies she started working with them on a regular basis. “He was the first person I met on reaching Mumbai. This was before Qtiyapa bombed the Internet. We met; he called me for a couple of projects and introduced me to the team. And eventually, I joined them as one of the creators,” avers Nidhi.

Apart from funds, acceptance was one of the biggest challenges faced. She points out, “The general perception not very long ago was that we are a bunch of boys who make YouTube videos for fun and also that we are spoof-makers. My parents still find it hard to believe that I do this full-time. But now people understand what we are doing, so it feels good that we are on the right track.”

Talking about some of her favourite works from the TVF kitty, she says, “I personally enjoyed making The Making Of Breaking News and Maa Ke Haath Ki Cigarette. Breaking News was created by the “Fab Four” comprising Anant, Anand, Deepak and Me. Maa Ke Haath Ki Cigarette was written, directed and acted by me, though it got mediocre response from the audience, I believe the concept was good but lacked in execution.”

Moving forward, she wants to create female-oriented entertaining content. “I am not a feminist but I believe that there’s more about us girls than make-up and boyfriends that needs to be shown! In the future, I want to create fun shows that represent women as central characters. I want to create a female version of Dil Chahta Hai,’’ concludes Nidhi.