Content creator Dolly Singh, known for keeping up with the big trends, recently collaborated on a mindful product taking her back to the roots and how! She gets candid with The Pioneer’s Shikha Duggal as she talks about how ruthless she becomes when it comes to making her space in this merciless game of fame, venturing into her first business, Rad Living, and more.
For this week’s celeb talk, we speak to one of the most popular influencers and faces of comedy online — Dolly Singh! She has completely changed the marketing game by infiltrating the creators’ community. Taking it to another extent in this fast-evolving space, she has collaborated for a line of idiosyncratic candles. When you hear the name of those scented candles that will also give you some aromatherapy, you are not going to stop laughing! That’s how freakish Dolly is when it comes to selling, be it her content or the new launch.
“It was a genuine move to foray into to collaboration. I do endorsements, I act, and I go on shows; hey, I am a leading face online, so it was spontaneous for me to to be a part of a unique line of product. I cannot continue to be creating videos on the same platform always; it’s the next step in my life. I have given myself self-promotion (she laughed). Content creation is still not a firm profession to be in, so here I am with Rad Living,” she exclaimed.
Always known for keeping up with the big trends, and also an actress, she is totally ruthless when it comes to making her space in this merciless game of fame. She revealed, “There is fierce competition in our community; more creators are joining us every day. But I see it in a positive light because they are currently assisting us in growing this industry. It gives me the impression that someone else takes this profession seriously. Getting fast insight into the present and future trends is the way to go.”
She does second our opinion that a massive fanbase does wonders, but how? She disclosed, “Sometimes, even if we don’t pray for so many followers, at the end of the day they become your responsibility and not just your fans. When my fan base grew to an insane number, with celebrities popping in too, all of a sudden I felt I had a purpose in my life. I only promoted products, themes, or discussions that can bring society to the forefront, not the other way around. I started touching upon taboo topics, just so that as a public figure, I can normalise, say, talking about dressing openly without being judged.”
Taking us back to her cultural roots, she recalled, “I come from Nainital; my parents are from Uttar Pradesh, and I moved to Delhi for my higher studies. My father has a cute store back in the hills, and I haven’t forgotten my middle-class roots at all.That’s why the content is relatable to you all! It’s actually my mother who has encouraged our popular videos to do better online; it’s her presence as well, and she didn’t shy away from it. Most of my content is heavily influenced by who I was in my childhood and what I did or observed there. “Raju ki mummy” is an ode to my mother and will go down in history.”
Speaking of her cinematic inning, she said, “Every third person wants to be a part of Bollywood, and there was I who continued to feel ‘I am not good-looking enough’ to be a part of that clan. I want to continue to pursue acting now; it was a happy accident. After my last stint with Sonakshi and Huma in Double XL, I signed up for a bigger project with a massive production house with a titular role. So, stay tuned! I just love giving auditions, and even if they reject me, I don’t give up.”
Moving ahead in the conversation, we finally got to know how she donned the cap of an entrepreneur with an exclusive range of scented soy candles. “Serendipity is the word — so many crazy opportunities came my way this year, but I declined. For example, merchandise requests, cool collaborations, or new launches, but I continued to feel sheepish, very typical of me. Now that I have made my first business move, I have launched something that my fans wouldn’t find a waste of money or a mere trend.
I don’t want to sell a product just because it has my name on it! I connect with candles, and I call myself a “candle specialist” because there’s not one candle that I didn’t try during the pandemic to make my home feel scented all the time.That’s when this idea struck me! They are a different kind of therapy, and my mother also makes candles back in the hills. But it takes a lot of effort to make a variety of candles. Life has come full circle because my father still sells candles, and I am joining him in a grander way now. I played around with affirmations when it came to naming the candles — the jokes we crack about — so I manifested my first fragrance as “saste nashe”.
Others, like “sugar momma” or “I am a calm kutti”, are hilarious to see on the candles! I coined my own word too, “sensi”, which is also on the candle because I am a sensitive woman in real life. There is a candle totally based on Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan, who turned their iconic dialogues into my candle line. All about self-love, dude.”
A home-grown collaboration, but her fan base abroad eventually requested an extension, so the good news is that Dolly Singh is taking candle line global anytime soon. International shipping is her next business move! And, “We creators are not copying each other; neither did we take hints. I want to sustain myself for a longer time, and this is my way to do so. I want to have my own source of income too, not dependent on any paid collaborations. I can see some celebrities launching anything and everything just for the sake of money. I like those labels that they can identify with. My passion for the business will be seen in my candles, fingers crossed.”
