Prajakta Koli has over 3 million subscribers on her ‘MostlySane’ YouTube channel, where she makes videos on everything from parents to periods, with a comical take. She has a knack to see humour in mundane. She was announced the Viral Queen of 2018 at the IWM Digital Awards. She isn’t just a YouTuber, she is also a comedian, vlogger, actress, and a social influencer. It seems she has tracked down the secret formula to success and being an all-rounder.

The Free Press Journal caught up with the witty content creator for a tiny tete-a-tete. Here is the excerpt:

What is the ‘coolest’ part of your job?
The coolest part of my job is that I get to meet a bunch of really cool people, work with them and travel so much. And the fact that I can wear pyjamas to work and no one will say anything.

A lot of people binge-watch your videos. What do you binge watch, listen to or read?
I am that person if I start binge-watching then ‘mera saara kaam rukh jayega‘ then I am not going to work, sleep, eat or do anything. Since the last few months, the work has been super hectic and crazy. I had not binged watched anything. But when I am having a low day I watch sappy romantic movies.

Digital content is on the rise and is emerging as a career platform in India. What are your views on it?
I am so happy that it is. When I started it was not something which people looked like a job option or a career profession. But now that I meet so many viewers who tell me that they are learning photography or direction because they want to start their YouTube channel. I feel that is beautiful because the platform is emerging and getting bigger. It has changed a lot in the past two years. We cannot map where it is going to be in the next five years. It will be stupid to ignore the platform. The more the creators the better it is.

How has the digital universe changed you as a person?
It has obviously changed me a lot as a person in the past 2-3 years. It has taught me to be more responsible and careful. Of course, when you are on a platform where so many people are looking at you and looking up to you actually. I think you have this massive responsibility on your shoulders all the time. But overall I am loving the attention and that is what I look for.

Since there is a lot of content available on the internet and people keep coming back to your channel. Does that fear you of losing your subscribers?
I have said this a lot of time when I am outside at a mall or at a coffee shop and someone comes and talks to me. I am immediately so overcompensating because for them it is meeting me and then they will remember that. And what if they remember me as someone who is not nice to them? This is my only fear. When a viewer comes to me and goes back thinking ‘arey ye YouTube le toh kitni acchi lagti hai, lekin in person she is not that great!’ I have that fear every week when I am writing content because there is so much content on the internet and people have so many options. The fact that they choose to watch your content is the massive commitment from their side. That commitment is enough for me to fear everything that I put out.

Recently you have collaborated with Kajol, Ayushmann Khurana, Manoj Bajpai, and John Abraham. But spill the beans, who was your favourite collaboration?
With John and Manoj it was a very chill, sit down talk. That was the first time I met them and I didn’t know how they were as people. The way their on-screen presence is I left that I don’t end up laughing at my own jokes. But they were so light-hearted and we had so much fun. It was a very different experience. With Ayushman it felt like I was actually chilling with someone that I have known as a fellow creator, not an actor or a Bollywood star or a massive personality, which is why it was such a mutual effort, where I told him what we can do and he had his inputs in it. This shoot literally got over in an hour. The video did very well and that was a different experience. Talking about Kajol, I have been a huge Kajol fan, I have grown up watching her movies. I had this image in my head where she is loud, bubbly, laughing and always happy and then she turned out exactly like that. All the three videos were different from each other and I cannot pick a favourite.