Apart from being an actor and comedian, Saanand Verma is also a content creator now. His comic videos are gaining popularity on social media. He started making these videos about four months back.
“I enjoy making them a lot as I’m the director, cinematographer, writer, and even the performer. And, I have been getting millions of viewers. So, it’s a one-man show. I get very satisfied creatively making these videos; even the audience loves it so I get really encouraged to make more videos. Many stars make videos. In today’s time, you cannot think of the importance of social media to be any less, many decisions are taken there, and sometimes even casting is done via social media. Recently, I went for a narration of a show and the producer praised my work online and only talked about my viral videos. I feel free in my videos, I can do whatever I want to, I can play an under-30 boy as well as a 40-plus man and both get well accepted. The storytelling and creative processes are satisfying too,” he says.
Given the busy schedule Apharan 2 actor has, it’s quite apt to ask when does he get time to ideate, and how does the process work for him.
“Sometimes I see or read jokes on social media and recreate content with it, I add my words to the idea. You can recreate one good idea into several things. I’ve been a writer since I was a kid, I’ve been writing for newspapers as well since I was 10 years old. I remember I was in class 11 when my articles were published in magazines like Nandan and Hindustan times, and I’ve also written novels of 1000 pages as a kid. So I use my writing in acting as well, and in my jokes. Sometimes my jokes are original and sometimes I pick up jokes from social media and recreate,” he shares his process.
Interestingly, Saanand says that he never got trolled for his videos. “I’m very careful when it comes to the sentiments of my viewers. I’m well aware of the society, political scenario and everything, I’m also very conscious and don’t want to hurt anybody. By the grace of god you will find hundreds of comments on my videos and hardly any negative reaction. People love me from the bottom of their hearts, I have a very genuine fan following and I’m very grateful for that,” he says.
On one side these videos are giving him an opportunity to connect with his audiences, while some might consider this as overexposure. Saanand explains his stand.
“The main thing is the genuineness of an actor. If I’m genuine then over exposure is never going to be a problem for me because the mindset of a viewer is different based on the various formats of entertainment. For example, if a viewer is watching a feature film in a theatre then the mindset of that viewer is different than someone watching a video on social media. The mindset, focus, attention, and expectation of a viewer from watching an artist online is different compared to theatre viewing (in a dark room) after buying a ticket for Rs 400. Overexposure is not a problem when a performer or actor is honest in their approach, which will always be admired by the audience,” he ends.
