‘So much can be done with womencentric stories’
Nidhi Bisht, the creative head of Girliyapa, is a popular face in the web space, and has acted in sketches such as Caller Naina and Mr and Mrs. While people aspire to make their debut with films and television, she dared to become a part of The Viral Fever in 2012, which can be credited for being among the earliest digital channels to usher in the craze for such content.
Nidhi tells us why they felt the need to create a separate channel, Girliyapa, which recently released the second season of PA-GALS. “Three years ago, we thought that there’s so much that can be done with more womencentric stories. We have all female creators in the team. Early on, even the cast and crew were all-women, but we have more people coming in. Though feminists, we are open to have male members as well. The idea was that there’s nothing specially for women in the digital space. We thought ‘kuchh apna karte hain’.”
She further explains, “There was a pressure of maintaining standards, so we wanted to start afresh, without any pressure from the parent channel. We created Girliyapa so that we were not bound in any way, and we could have women creators tell their stories.”
PA-GALS, directed by Nidhi, tracks the life of female flatmates, and how they go through the ups and down in life, together. The amazing response to the first season, last year, led the makers to come up with one more season.
“I was not hoping for this good a reception, but somewhere, I knew it was going to work, because it’s a very contemporary, everydayy story. I, too, came to Mumbai from Delhi, and stayed in a PGG for a year. There are so many stories and anecdotes from that time, about what all happens when girls live together. That’s how we thought ‘ek show banayenge toh mazedaar hoga’,” says Nidhi.
There’s nothing specially for women in the digital space. We thought ‘kuchh apna karte hain’. NIDHI BISHT
ACTORDIRECTOR