A starry rendezvous

She is sweet and straightforward. Tell Shrima Rai, fashion and lifestyle blogger that she has a large fan base with 13,000 followers on insta and she promptly corrects you, “its 12.8 k followers”.  And it is this same earnestness that is reflected in her online posts, where Shrima diligently reviews products, after she has tried them herself. “I never take on products that I am not satisfied with,” says the soft spoken former Mrs India pageant winner and now a mom of two. Her faint American accent stems from having grown up in Philadelphia and Texas before destiny introduced Shrima to her husband, businessman, Aditya Rai, brother of Bollywood star, Aishwarya Rai.

But unlike most Bollywood families, where the stars blatantly promote their siblings or relatives, this is clearly not the case. Nobody can accuse Shrima of benefitting from nepotism as this blogger, who is in her 30s, has built her career on merit. “I do get respect for having done it on my own. I believe that the brand or public is not going to merely accept me because I am someone’s sister-in-law. Finally, for a blogger, it’s the content that matters,” says Shrima adding, “I rarely even post images from our family gatherings. I post an odd image of Aradhya (Aishwarya’s daughter) during Raksha Bandhan or an insta story that changes in 24 hours.”

Having grown up in the US, where she has studied bachelors in business management, Shrima is accustomed to seeing Hollywood celebrities in NYC. “I am not consciously staying away from my familial connections. But I am also someone who doesn’t treat people like celebrities within my home. In New York, you will see Leonardo Di Caprio walking down the street, so for me this is not a big deal,” she frankly states and adds, “This is a very competitive industry where everybody is cross-collaborating and promoting each other. I don’t have any of that going on and it is tough to promote yourself.”

Shrima has endeared herself to advertisers looking for promotions and from promoting designer clothes, to diamond jewellery and even baby products, it has been a gradual journey for her. “I worked with a private bank for six years. I was into wealth management, where I held the portfolio of an investment advisor. I asked for a change to the product side after my son Vihaan was born. It became difficult to manage a kid and career so I quit to start something on my own,” she reveals.

Shrima, who had a passion for writing, tried her hand at content writing but was dissatisfied and decided to create her own blog. “I started getting a good response and in the last 1.5 years, the numbers are growing. I am also very careful about the brands I endorse and have rejected products that don’t meet my standards, says the mother of two, who has mastered the art of multi-tasking. “When you are a banker and a mum you become a multi-tasker. I have always been working, so this is nothing new for me. Also, my husband is very supportive and takes care of the kids when I have to step out for shoots,” she adds. What about her extended family? “My parents and brother are proud of me. My sister in law is very busy; we hardly meet, so there is no feedback from her, which is fine.”