The art of the 30-second comedy with Niharika NM

How the Bengaluru-bred content creator broke the Internet with videos on pet peeves

- DIVYANSHA DONGRE

I first came across Niharika NM half-adecade ago. Unlike the vertical videos we are used to seeing her in, I recall watching the then-rookie content creator on a landscaped YouTube, where she focused her content around topics almost every teen or 20-something could relate to. There was something for everyone – from a scathing commentary on the types of people at birthday parties to laments about dumb things people do in horror films. Her content felt familiar and close to home, especially for longterm fans of Canadian-Indian YouTuber Lilly Singh, who’ve watched her present the most quintessential tales of growing up brown. Was she aspiring to be India’s very own Lilly Singh? The two creators might be cut from the same comedic cloth, but Niharika holds her own as a one-of-a-kind Gen Z goofball.

EVERY SUCCESS STORY BEGINS realizing you’ve boarded the wrong train of life. For Niharika, her road to becoming one of India’s trailblazing digital content creators began when she found herself at sea during college; “It all started in the second year of engineering when I realized that I wanted to do anything but engineering,” Niharika tells Rolling Stone India. “So, I picked up a camera, called it a hobby and called myself a YouTuber.”