In the music industry, a well-known duo of twin sisters has carved out a niche for themselves. In the exclusive chat,  Sukriti Kakar & Prakriti Kakar shared about their journey and their inspiration. On working with Armaan Malik on their latest hit ‘Levitating’, Sukriti said, “This was a lifelong dream. As you grow up, there are so many people that you look up to, so many artists that you want to collab with or just keep hearing that music and get inspired. Dua Lipa was one of the reasons we started composing music because we’ve seen her journey since she was 16 years old, and she’s 25 now. We are 26 and I always seen, like a lot of similarities between the kind of music that we wanted to do. Even though we come from two different continents, she’s always been that one person, always constantly inspiring us. Now to a point where, she does this smash hit ‘levitating’, which is all over.  some of the best comments that have come in have definitely been how people are kind of looking up to us as pop artists representing India. I think that’s something that we’ve always wanted to hear.” 

Speaking about their mutual admiration for Dua Lipa, Prakriti said,“I think, just being girls. I remember when her song New Roots dropped. I felt like at that time in the pop scene, of course, globally and, like Boy music charts,  there should be a girl band as well. She kind of changed things around so much that she carved a niche for herself in a way that today there is like pop, synth pop as a genre. I feel like, in a way it belongs to her ”

When asked what has been a turning point for them in their journey, Sukriti revealed,“ Definitely 2017. When I got to sing for the Dharma movies, ‘Kapoor & Sons’ and I got to sing for Alia Bhatt, I think that was one of those things that you don’t really imagine happening to you. I think while you’re in the studio and really working on the song, you don’t think it’s going to be like a mega hit, that’s going to be relevant even until now. So definitely, I was singing a lot of songs for a lot of actresses in movies, some were hits and some songs that people didn’t know at all, but they were just a part of that album, but ‘Kar gayi Chull’ just flew and flew and it was my first collaboration with Badshah and Arman Malik, also released at that time.”

Prakriti Kakar, when asked about her turning point, revealed, “I didn’t call it a turning point but it really changed things up for the both of us I speak, because most of our lives have been singing for actresses and have been singing for films. In 2019, and when we featured and starred in our own music video for the first time, I think that really changed things out for us”

Mansi Gupta, Founder & CEO, Tjori, joined NewsX as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. In the exclusive conversation, she spoke about not just Tjori’s journey but also its plans of expansion and latest campaign. Speaking about the brand Tjori and its journey till now, Mansi said, “Tjori has a lifestyle brand for almost 7+ years now. The basic premises of the brand is to promote or to bring out the designs of India, in its entire lifestyle format. Basically not only fashion, but also non-fashion in different categories. It is storehouse for a lot of good handicraft weaves. The main aspiration is for a brand to come out of India, bring out the best of India and present it to the world.” 

Emphasising on its ‘just-in-time’ business model, Mansi said, “We primarily operate on just-in-time method of delivery. In other relatable terms, you can also call it fast fashion, in which there is a lot of data involved in sales where we focus on what is selling more, eliminate those that are not selling well and do it fast. This is what we have always used. In an environment like nowadays, where you have likes of Myntra and Amazon whose delivery timelines are super short, it is important for us to have a faster delivery as well. We primarily, as i earlier mentioned, use the just-in-time method of production with predictable inventory in stock.” 

When asked about plans of expansion, Mansi responded, “I think, this year, like the last 2 years have not gone as per plan for any brand. We have tried to stay agile and try to stay in business. Most of the money was actually spent on building more revenue and performance-based brand marketing. In the past one year, brand marketing has become a huge interest for us as well. I think it is time for us to make a statement on who we are. People know us but it is different thing for a brand to go out there and make a statement. It was due for in 2020 but it did not happen due to the pandemic. But yes, we will do that next.” 

Talking about their latest campaign and what it is all about, Mansi said, “The next big thing that is coming up is the Summer Festival. Nowadays, given the Covid situation, every occasion is different. The demands are unfulfilled because the crowd is small. People do not want to go and spend a lot of money on the apparel they are wearing. The campaigns are now designed keeping in mind, all of that. Rakhi is also the next big campaign for us, then the summer weddings.” 

Check out the entire interview on NewsX YouTube here:

Anshul Yadav and Pragya Sikka, Co-Founders, Memboro, recently joined NewsX for its special segment NewsX India A-List. Recognised for their excellence in rising startup, the duo spoke about how they are helping content creators get paid for the content they make.

Speaking about Memboro and its journey till now, Anshul said, “Memboro, in a nutshell, is a social media platform where fans can financially support their favorite creators and creators can provide their exclusive content to their fans. A content creator can create a membership model and put their exclusive content behind Memboro. The entire creative control stays with the creator only. A fan can simply subscribe to those models to get access to their content. Apart from it, to show their support and love for a creator’s content, they can voluntarily contribute any amount of money, which we call a ‘cheer’ to the creator. “

He added, “Utsav, Pragya and I came up with this idea around one year ago and we started building the platform. During the whole development phase, we have been in constant contact with many content creators, so that they can give us a seed bank and we can come up with a perfect market fit. We launched on 12^th March and it was a huge success. More than 1000 viewers came to visit the platform in just 30 minutes of our launch.”

When asked about team behind Memboro and what sets them apart from other such platforms, Anshul said, “Memboro is a platform for the creators and by the creators. I and Anshul are artists ourselves. Before actually developing the platform, we talked to over a 100 creators to understand their problems and requirements when it came to being financially independent and support their own craft. A young and passionate team has been able to deliver features overnight, a 24/7-customer support, assisting creators who join us with marketing, helping them to strategize their content. I think how actively and dynamically we are involved with our creators and our users, is what sets up apart from any other startup.”

Talking about how does the crowd funding process work on their platform, Anshul expressed, “Let’s assume that I’m a painter and I release a painting on any social media platform. Be it Instagram, Youtube or Memboro. You, as a fan, really liked it a lot and you want to support me for making more such content like this. You come to my Memboro profile. You write your message and you cheer me some amount. Now, that amount with your name and your picture, is going to stay there on my creator profile forever. That’s how the crowd-funding part works. Your messages and worships for me and your love for me is going to stay there forever.”

Sharing her opinion on scope of the concept of crowdfunding in India, Pragya said, “It is no doubt that the concept is pretty new in Indian sub-continent. It’s hard for people to see content creation as a full time job. During the process and during our journey, a lot of creators told us how they left their jobs to pursue content creation full time after joining Memboro. It’s time people start realizing the value and potential this whole economy has. Also, it has been seen that people, who choose the road less taken, are not able to get that respect in society. This is not just about money but also about value and respect a content creator deserves. Through Memboro, we are trying to break that stigma.”

Check out the entire interview on NewsX YouTube:

Known for her famous music performances, Singer Jasleen Royal recently joined NewsX India A-List for a candid conversation. In the exclusive chat, she gave us a sneak peek into her birthday plans, forthcoming projects and much more. Read excerpts:

Jasleen, who is all set to ring in her birthday on 8^th, told NewsX that after 2 years of planning her birthday, she has now decided to not plan anything this year. She said, “I have been planning since the last 2 years and this time I’m not planning. There has been a lockdown and everything but I’m grateful that things are better now and people are getting vaccinated. I am not planning on anything because right now, I don’t think you should be planning anything. It is very random. I don’t know what is going to happen.’”

When asked about her key lessons during the pandemic, Jasleen expressed, “Yes, of-course. I got to spend time with my family. We just get lost in this rut of life, where you just think about work. We keep everything on the side and think yeah we’ll do it, maybe next month or next year. This has been a wake-up call to strike a balance. Balance it out, because you don’t know what is going to happen. You cannot control things so balance it out. Balance your work life without your work life. Give time to your family and it is okay to take things easy. Sometimes, things might not fall on your timelines. We think we need to do this before 35, this before 30 and so on. It is okay. Just have fun.”

Speaking about the process of creating music amid the pandemic and whether it was a challenge for her, Jasleen said, “On the positive side, yes. We did get a lot of time on our hands. If you were lucky enough to not get Covid and fight with the whole system. I have been one of the lucky ones. There were not many serious issues. I did get time during that phase. Seeing what’s really happening around you to your family and friends and close relatives, I have not been in that mindspace to be able to focus on just music. Whenever I did get time, I did work on some songs. I am waiting to shoot a couple of them, which are pending since last year. As soon as the situation gets better, I am just going to go, shoot and release them.

Jasleen recently came up with tracks like Sang Rahiyo and Nit Nit. On being asked her personal favourite, she responded, “My personal favorite is going to come. The next two songs that I am going to be releasing are my personal favourites. But yes, I have got a lot of love for Sang Rahiyo from people and Nit Nit has a special place in my heart because it stars my dog Kobe. He is the most favorite member of our family. That song will always be special because of his presence there. It might sound very cheesy but yeah, that’s the truth.

Check out the entire conversation on NewsX YouTube:

Shruti Sinha is a dancer, actor, social media influencer and digital content creator. With more than I.5 million followers on Instagram, she’s changing norms and breaking all barriers. She recently joined NewsX for an exclusive conversation as part of NewsX Influencer A-List series. In the exclusive conversation, she spoke to us about how she used her passion for dance to grow professionally, her journey into digital content creation, public response on pole dance and much more.

She commenced by explaining how she got into digital content creation, she said, “I want to clear that firstly an actor and a dancer. People saw me on TV, liked me and started following on social media. That’s how I started creating digital media content. I love being in front of cameras, so content creation comes easy to me. I started enjoying it because of the response and growth I was getting. Sometimes like everyone, I have artist block when I don’t know what to do next. I love following trends in my own different ways. I want to do something out of the box and not just follow trends.”

When asked about if negative comments or trolls have ever come in between the content she wants to create, she replied, “No, not a hindrance for me but it would be for a lot of people. I have grown a thick skin to these comments. I am a pole dancer and people look down upon it. Pole dancing is a beautiful and difficult art form. People think that if you are a pole dancer you are a stripper. I got a lot of hate on that but I didn’t pay any attention to it. Now when I post it, I have millions of views on my poll dancing.”

Explaining the difference between pole dancing and exotic pole dancing, she said, “Exotic pole dancing is what strippers do and is very sexy. You can’t do pole dancing with full clothes because you need skin to grip pole. So automatically there are short clothes which people mistake to be a stripper. I am trying to do more graceful contemporary dance on pole.”

On clearing if she chose graceful pole dancing over exotic pole dance because of social media comments, she added ,”No. People anyway don’t know the difference between the two. I personally don’t do it because I feel like I want to master this first and then go to exotic pole dance. I am much focused while learning anything.”

Sharing an instance from her trip she said, “I wanted to click a picture climbing and doing a move on a street lamp. A girl who’s educated and being in the same industry refused it by saying that this place is very decent and your pole dancing is indecent. I gave back to her by telling her how much hard work goes behind every single move.”

Picking up the cause to normalize pole dance and speaking on if there are many influences and creators to support and respect poll dance as an art form that requires so much, she responded, “I don’t want to take the responsibility to change the world because one person can’t but I am doing my bit. I never liked teaching when I was 13-years-old and I thought that when I will be 30- 35 years and then if nothing workout in my life then I’ll teach. But I started teaching pole dancing because I want to introduce more people to the pole. They come for a free trial class, people who come to me and ask me about pole, I am ready to give them answers and educate them on that. It is basic art form which is fairly new in India but now it’s coming up because Jacqueline did it and lot of people are doing it.”

Talking about her social media journey she shared, “Every time I have to send my insides to my team or any brand and when I open it, they say that your interaction and impressions are so good. Whenever I am creating, I look at it like probably my audience would like to see. I haven’t changed myself. I always put out what I like but keeping in mind that my audience would like it too. I keep asking them what they want to see.”

Emphasizing on the organic element of her creations, she said, “Initially I used to post pole dancing videos and there wasn’t a lot of interaction. But one day I just shoot a video, posted it and I got 5 million views, I started posting again. I knew my pole dancing videos aren’t doing well but still I posted them for myself. I kept a balance and that’s how my growth happened.”

The creation of strategic narratives is at the core of modern communication strategies in business, politics and even in warfare. The battle of narratives has become the bedrock of international politics, and social media has emerged as a powerful tool in this battle. Social media distinguishes itself from the other means of communication because it empowers individuals to engage in ways unseen before. An individual pertaining to a particular ideology can promote its propaganda in a number of unique ways to shape opinions of others. In the present scenario, social media platforms are being used in such a way as to manipulate the opinions of others and to influence the outcomes in such a way that these are posing difficulties to policymakers, military leaders and intelligence agencies.

The transmission of information has become ubiquitous. In India, about 448 million people actively use different social media platforms. The nation on numerous occasions has witnessed how social media trends can shape opinions of the masses and based on such information shared on different handles people are constantly leaning towards different political ideologies. We all have been a witness to many such narratives trending on platforms like Twitter be it #MeToo campaign or #NotMyPM. During this pandemic, we witnessed how people came together to provide help to those in dire need of it, through tweets and Facebook posts, which only goes to show how these platforms can either be of great use to a nation or create controversies to such an extent that it may sometimes pose threat to the peace and tranquility of the nation, depending on how it is used.

The Government of India, to better regulate such platforms, announced New IT Rules under Information and Technology Act, 2000 in February 2021, to which these social media platforms were given 3 months to comply with. The new rules mandate these social media giants to frame a larger grievance redressal mechanism which will include a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer. The platforms are required to publish this information on their websites and guide users to make a complaint against any objectionable content. These complaints are then required to be acknowledged within 24 hours of the receipt and needs to be addressed within 15 days. After the amendment in the policy, #twitterbaninindia started to trend on social media platforms which cannot be further from the truth since the new law does not impose any kind of ban on social media platforms rather simply places them under a higher level of scrutiny pertaining to the kind of content that is being shared using their platforms. Section 2(w) of the Information and Technology Act, 2000 defines an intermediary as “any particular electronic message means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message”. According to Section 79, IT Act (2000), intermediaries are immune from and not liable for the content being circulated on their platform, no matter how objectionable if they comply with legal takedown requests of user posts from courts & public authorities. Under the new rules, however, they would continue to enjoy the same level of legal immunity if they are seen complying with IT Rules, 2021 otherwise, rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021 states that Section 79 of the IT Act won’t apply to intermediaries in case they fail to comply with the new rules.

These rules have been framed to better regulate the kind of content that is being shared on social media platforms. People under the garb of anonymity can often be seen making abusive tweets, hashtags and engaging in cyber bullying without thinking twice.

In recent times, the information available on social media has had a major role to play in manipulating people’s opinions. It would seem at times that some of these platforms have their own agendas. Social Media platforms are supposed to connect individuals from all over the world wherein people can pour in their ideas and engage in healthy and meaningful discussions. The problem happens when these social media platforms let organisations with dubious records operate without any hassles, but put a tag of “manipulative tweet” on tweets of a political leader or remove a tick from the official handle of the Vice-President of India. These recent incidents have acted as a wakeup call for many as it has been seen that Twitter and other social media platforms are acting biased. In a letter, the Government of India also raised questions on the role of Twitter, which stated:

1.     The micro-blogging sites will not decide the veracity of the content but the investigation enforcements will.

2.     Twitter’s premature and prejudiced actions may compromise the probe and the government further asked Twitter to not interfere in the investigation process.

3.     Twitter India’s reactions are unilateral and they not only dilute the credibility of Twitter but also questions its status as an intermediary.

Twitter’s double standards became obvious when it rightfully took a strong action against then US President Donald Trump for spreading fake news, but refused to take cognisance in the matter of misinformation being spread on vaccines by vested elements and blatant fake news being spread on the farm laws in India. Capitol Hill in the US was a cause of concern for Twitter, but not India’s Red Fort.

It’s high time social media giants, including Twitter, realises that in order to operate in India it has to—and must—follow India laws.

The writers are law students of Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. The views expressed are personal.