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Thought Behind Things · Nov 15, 2021 · 56:35

Why Pakistan's influencer industry is stuck on the frame

Hemayal Attique on starting on Instagram before influencers had a name for it, why brands here still demand A-to-Z control of the post, what the LSA hate cycle actually felt like, and why a TikTok-trained generation will move past the frame whether the industry is ready or not.

with Hemayal Attique

11 min read

Starting before there was a name for it

The episode opens with Muzamil welcoming Hemayal Attique and admitting upfront that he doesn’t want a structured conversation today. He wants to wander. The first question is the simplest one: how is life, really, beyond the Instagram grid? Hemayal is direct. “Instagram par thori zyada, asal mein thori kam hai,” she says. Life is good, just not as gleaming as the feed implies. She is satisfied. She is grateful.

From there Muzamil pulls the timeline back. Hemayal started in 2016, during a gap year, after walking away from a medical degree she had cleared the first two years of but could no longer carry. She failed the third-year repeat, took a break she insists was emotional as much as academic, and quietly turned her personal Instagram profile public. The traction surprised her. She had no thesis, no funnel, no creator handbook. “Mujhe pata nahi tha where this is headed to. I was like, chalo yaar, karte hain.” She and her sister Hira built a proper blog around the early posts. She enrolled in International Relations and Politics at the same time, finished the degree in three years because she believed a bachelor’s was non-negotiable, and let the social media work expand alongside it. Muzamil names the inflection point: the LSAs. Both sisters were nominated. Both got pulled into a churn that, in his words, “blew everything up.”

What Pakistani brands still get wrong

Muzamil pushes Hemayal on the current state of the work, and she lands on the structural problem before he has to name it. “Creative freedom nahi hai,” she says. “Brands aate hain. A to Z kehte hain yeh bana do. Aur woh idhar se hiltay nahi hain.” The brief is the post. The creator is the delivery vehicle. She has watched this from the inside for long enough to know it is not the global default. “India is very progressive,” she notes. “We’re going to lag as an industry.”

Muzamil agrees and adds his own frustration. He had been on the phone with his brother, who works at Facebook, complaining that Pakistan has been left behind on Reels and on Instagram music. The tools that make short-form work creative are simply not available here. The format the country is stuck in is the static feed post, and the static feed post is the one place a brand can credibly demand frames, watermarks, and a recycled TVC sensibility. “Pehle TVCs bante they,” Muzamil says. “Ab woh kya kar rahe hain ke sastay mein das different TVCs banwa rahe hain.” Hemayal completes the sentence. “There is no content. There is only the brand.”

Her counter-argument is also structural. “Bhai pandrah second ki video, agar das second aap brand dikhao gay, toh aagay content kya rahega?” The math of short video does not allow for the old aesthetic of saturation branding. If the industry insists on it anyway, the work fails on the format.

Saying no, once

The most concrete piece of advice in the conversation is also the most quietly subversive. Hemayal tells newer creators to refuse a campaign — once. Just once. “Say no for once. Kya hoga? Ek deal jayegi. Ek deal jayegi, soyengi. Ek do na karke dekh lo.” The point is not principle for its own sake. The point is that a creator does not learn how the industry actually behaves until they have walked away from one deal. The brand comes back. The same brand. With the same frame. And the negotiation that was impossible the first time is now sitting on the creator’s terms.

She is honest about why most newcomers cannot do this. Insecurity. The belief that a missed deal is a closed door. She remembers being there. “Hum bhi jab nayi thi, hum bhi yehi kehte the.” But the charm of brand association, she says, has worn off for her sister and her. “Hamein woh nahi chahiye. Hamein kaam chahiye. Achha kaam karke dena hai humne.”

Muzamil names the disappointment underneath this. He had assumed that the next generation of creators, walking into a market the early cohort had already opened, would push back harder. Instead, he says, they walk in and ask to be taken on terms older creators had to fight to leave behind. Hemayal does not argue with that. She just shrugs at the loop.

The half-million and the price of scale

Muzamil pulls up the follower count. Four hundred and seventy-three thousand. Half a million is in reach. He uses the number to make a quality-floor argument: at that scale, a small dip in the work hits differently than it does for a creator with twenty thousand followers. A team has to be sustained. Cameras, phones, production hands, managers, agents. Hemayal nods through the list and adds the part the audience does not see. “Logon ko lagta hai yeh aap ne ek picture hi to lekar lagani hai. Kehti woh nahi behan us picture ke peechay jo poora setup hota hai.”

The team is not vanity. It is the only way the work can scale past the three-year window where one person can do everything themselves. After that, Hemayal says plainly, “agar wohi hum sab kuch wohi karne baith jayenge to phir hamara kaam bohat slow ho jayega.” The frame the audience sees as a single image is the output of a small business with payroll, and the commercial decisions that feel like sellouts from the outside are often the decisions that keep the small business alive.

The global goal, from Pakistan

When Muzamil asks Hemayal what she is actually building toward, the answer is more specific than he expects. “Going international is big,” she says. She wants to compete on a global platform, alongside the creators she looks up to. But she does not want to leave Pakistan to do it. “Pakistan ne jo humein diya hai woh Dubai se humein nahi milega.” The plan is to represent the country from inside it.

She is clear-eyed about the obstacles. “We’re completely disconnected. As an economy, we’re disconnected.” She names the religious and cultural friction around fashion in particular — her primary category — as an additional drag. The five-year picture she offers is intentionally undramatic: the same work, done better. She catches herself before saying more. “Aapko batana nahi chahiye. Aapko karke dikhana chahiye.”

The pay gap, and the price of pushing back

Muzamil asks about the disparity between male and female influencers. Hemayal does not soften it. A male creator with fewer followers gets paid more for the same campaign, because the assumption that men have households to run still travels into the rate card. “Bhai, hamein bhi ghar chalana hota hai. Hamare bhi ghar hotay hain.”

Muzamil offers a piece of data from his own work that complicates the picture further. Most online buyers are women. Most followers of a female creator are women. The conversion math runs in favour of female creators, not against them. Hemayal accepts the data and adds the social explanation. “Jab ek mard kuch kehta hai, log usay bohat seriously letay hain. Jab ek aurat kehti hai, log soch letay hain ke chalo yeh to bolti rehti hai.”

She also names the cost of refusing this on the creator side. “I have been labelled that with everybody,” she says, of being called rude, arrogant, difficult, simply for holding rates and refusing terms. “Yeh mujhe sab kehte hain. Upfront kehte hain.” Her response is consistent. “Mere set rules hain. Aur is ke ooper main rahungi. Chahe tum mujhe jo marzi keh rahe ho.”

The LSA hate cycle, seen from inside

The hardest section of the conversation is about the wave of hate that followed the Lux Style Awards and the Prime Minister’s meetup. Muzamil names it carefully. Hemayal corrects the framing. The worst of the hate did not land on her. It landed on Hira. “She only had one night of happiness when she won. After that she said get me out of the house, take me to the village, take me somewhere away from this.” Hira had pre-existing anxiety. The pile-on made it worse. She could not eat. She could not sleep. The picture on the screen, Hemayal says, is a person — and the people sending hate forget that on purpose.

She extends the same observation to the meetup. The girls — Hemayal, Hira, and a small number of others — were attacked for being in the room. The boys from tech in the same room, doing the same work, were not. “Aap ne to nahi dekhi unki journey,” Hemayal says of the senders. “Aap ne to nahi dekha ke yaar unhone kya kaam kiya hai.” Her sharper point is economic. The fashion industry in Pakistan is, by her recollection, a nine-billion-rupee business. The women in the room were called there on the strength of the foreign exchange and revenue their work generates, not as decoration. “Karan Johar bhi apne award shows par yehi bol raha tha ke itni bari industry hai, aur aap usay aise like you don’t take men seriously in that industry. Inn larkiyon ko seriously nahi liya.”

And inside the meeting itself, she says without hesitation, there were people who said openly that the women should not have been invited. “It was a room filled with ninety-eight percent men. Three girls — main na, Hira, aur ek aur.” Representation is not a slogan in that sentence. It is the only mechanism by which any of the rules made in that room would acknowledge that half the country exists.

The frame, the platform, and Gen Z

The last platform pass through the conversation is about TikTok. Muzamil admits he finds the format intimidating — a millennial reflex he names cleanly. Hemayal has worked through that block. She cannot do the dances. She found a different lane on the platform anyway, using its sound library to build work that fits her own aesthetic. Three videos a day is the rhythm the algorithm rewards. The VPN-and-battery overhead of running TikTok during a Pakistani ban cycle is real. The audience she pulls there is different from her Instagram audience, and she can now tell, before posting, which video belongs on which platform.

Her broader read is that Instagram’s monopoly is ending. “It is becoming too monotonous and it will fade away like other platforms did.” Facebook’s pivot, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels — all of them, she says, are reactions to TikTok. The generation behind her has a three-second attention span. They will not sit through a minute of branded content for the same reason an older audience would not. The industry that keeps demanding the frame is solving for an audience that is already gone.

Safety, hope, and the example that has not been set

Muzamil closes with the question he asks every guest. Hemayal is twenty-eight. In thirty years she will be fifty-eight. Where will Pakistan be?

She does not give him a comfortable answer. “I want to give children hope, but I’m in a hopeless situation right now.” She has seen what happens behind the closed doors of the rooms she has been in. The change she was waiting for has not come. Inflation is eating the floor out from under everyone. Some sectors — tourism, parts of the creative economy — are growing. Others are sinking. Corruption, she says flatly, is the variable. Not corruption at the top. Corruption at every level. “Every person that we interact with is corrupt.”

The safety conversation lands in the same place. Hemayal travels alone. She keeps a taser in her bag as standard protocol. “Reflex action hai, koi andheri sarak aati hai, haath taser par jata hai.” The Motorway case has faded. The Noor Mukadam case is still being dragged. Until one example is set — one serving sentence, one moment of consequence — the calculation does not change. International female bloggers visiting Pakistan, she notes, get full security and are left alone. The repercussion for harming them is known and credible. The repercussion for harming a Pakistani woman, in too many cases, is not. The gap between those two facts is the safety problem, stated plainly.

Muzamil ends the conversation at the fifty-two minute mark, where he usually does. The closing observation is the one Hemayal returns to throughout the hour. The work is on the creator. The understanding has to come from the audience. And the industry will only move when both sides stop pretending the frame is enough.

Full transcript
Muzamil

खाली नौबीन हज़ार welcome back to another episode of CoDrent. Thanks, आज हमारे साथ मौजूद हैं एक ऐसी मेहमान जिनकी

Guest

Thank you for having me.

Muzamil

I'm gonna start this conversation with... I don't know. I don't feel like having a conversation in a more structured जो मेरी generally होते हैं. You know, I'm I'm so I'm this is gonna be random. But how are you? I'm good. How are you? लक्ष्यवर, how's life? How's everything?

Guest

Life is amazing. Really? Is it? It is. Is it as amazing as it seems on Instagram? Not as amazing. Instagram पर थोड़ी ज़्यादा में थोड़ी कम है. और असल में थोड़ी कम होती होती है है लेकिन amazing है. Like, it's it's you're you're satisfied. Am satisfied. I'm grateful. I'm grateful.

Muzamil

ज़बरदस्त. ज़बरदस्त. And how's how's work? How's how's overall, you know, influencer marketing space and content space?

Guest

I think work is fun. It has become a little, मतलब समझ आ गई है लोगों को. अब मुझे जाकर, मतलब initially जब मैंने start किया था, influencers नहीं होते थे, ठीक है? अब मुझे तो जाकर यह भी बताना पड़ता था कि भैया post ले रहे हैं, उसके पैसे भी होते हैं. Right. ठीक है? अब यह समझ आ गई है कि हां चल जाती कि अब अब upfront आता है कि अब इसके कितने पैसे तो that actually makes me happy. Right. ठीक है? फिर what else has changed? There's

Muzamil

yet to come, creative freedom नहीं है. भी brands आते हैं. एक A to Z कहते हैं यह बना दो. Mhmm. और वह इधर से हिलते नहीं हैं. Right. कि यही बनाकर दो. And वह, I think they're not मैं पूरी दुनिया में देखता हूं कि Pakistan का ही मसला है. Like, this is not happening हां. Other in other markets. Even India is is very progressive कि वह जो है India is very progressive. अपना मुकान है but we're we're gonna dive deeper into that. थोड़ा सा मुझे यह बताइएगा कि, you know, you started at a very very early, time within the industry. Right? Essentially industry three. Mhmm. And and and for for a person at the time to just sort of take his take her phone out and start posting, particularly for a for a girl or for a woman, was was unheard of at the time. Run me through from high school till your first Instagram post or your first public post. What was that evolution like?

Guest

So people used to generally in life as well, people used to ask me a lot of questions about my clothes, about my makeup, everything, ठीक है? Generally, very girly girl but I used to love doing that, ठीक है? तो अब मुझे यह था कि मैं Right. तो उसके ऊपर we made a proper blog where we wrote everything. Right. ठीक है? फिर हम लोगों ने Instagram पर करना शुरू किया, posts लगाने शुरू किए and we were the first one. But this was when you started already. So, I want to know before that as well कि आप when you were in high school, what sort of person were you? And and उस वक्त आप नहीं कर रहे थे ना? You started in college I believe. I started in नहीं, I started in my gap year. I was doing medical. वह मैंने छोड़ा. करनी सक रही थी. अच्छा. तो फिर मैंने कहा कि चलो छोड़ देते हैं. अभी मैंने break ली थी. मैंने यह नहीं कहा था कि मैं नहीं करूंगी. मुझे यह Cheese करा लिया था of course. Cheese करा लिया था. मुझे यह भी था मैं वापस कर लूंगी. But then I was like यह कर लें. तो मैंने connect. Ok, thank you अलाफिज़. अलाफिज़, हां. Third year की training, clearing पर थी ना, third year clear नहीं था. Right. First two years clear थे. Right. वह फिर back to start था. Oh, that would have been नहीं. नहीं, exactly. That's what I thought. But then I took a break. I needed it, emotionally as well. तो I took a break. Mhmm. And then उस break में I started posting on social media. Initially, what I started doing was क्या यह post it on my personal profile? Right. For your own friends and family? For, yeah, for my own friends and family. I run random day. I made that profile public and I got a lot of traction. Right. तो मुझे पता नहीं था where this is headed to. I was like कि चलो यार, करते हैं. And this is what year? This is, I think '16? 1617 I think, I suppose. और उसमें फिर हम लोगों ने यह सारा कुछ किया, फिर हर NMB बना और यह सारा कुछ हुआ. हमने कहा इधर भी attention divert हुए, यह वह, everything. वह simultaneously सब कुछ ना नहीं होता जैसे आपकी energy flow होती है और वह वापस आती जाती है. वह सब कुछ होता गया, होता गया, होता गया. Right. तो it just for me this all just happened. It's sort of very explorative. Like, आप बस नई नई चीज़ें सीख रही थी, नई नई चीज़ें implement करनी थी. I was just doing it और मैं मतलब मैं अपने उस head space में निकलने के लिए बहुत सारी चीज़ें कर रही थी और this was a part of that. And social media helped me a lot. Right. So eventually did you do a degree या बस social media ही हो गया? नहीं नहीं, I did a degree. I enrolled into IR and politics. Mhmm. और मेरा target था कि तीन साल में मैंने अपनी degree complete. क्योंकि मैंने कहा कि एक bachelor's की degree तो होनी चाहिए आपके पास, ठीक Right. For sure. इसके अलावा आपका गुज़ारा नहीं है. Even though I I knew that I want to pursue this as a career,

Muzamil

02/1819? Because first two years were still, like, there, and then eighteen, nineteen years. Struggling. Struggling था. And then 1819, you mainstream, you started coming out. And then pizza was before pre COVID? Pizza was before. And then pizza essentially happened and that just sort of blew everything up. I remember. I think the first pizza I think हिरा was, or both of you were nominated. Both of us were nominated. Both of both of you and उससे एकदम से मुझे याद है कि बहुत ज़्यादा traction भी आ गई थी, खपाई थी, controversy में नहीं थी. जो controversy बनती है automatically attraction आती है, automatically हर चीज़ ऊपर जाती है. हालांकि हम controversy तो बहुत दूर रहते हैं लेकिन फिर भी मोड़ के सारी इधर ही आ जाती है. हां और वह आपको attack करने आते हैं और आपको आखिर में eventually वह आपको ही value add करके चले जाते हैं. क्योंकि हो सकती it's very, it's very detrimental at the time because someone who's going through उसको ही पता होता है. लेकिन eventually आपका brand upgrade हो ही जाता है. हो ही जाता है. तो Uh-huh. Did you ever imagine you'd be where you are today, when you'd started? To be very honest,

Guest

I've always dreamt of, you know, doing something big and, you know, अभी तक मैं वहां पहुंची नहीं हूं जो मैंने actually सोचा हुआ था. वह aim अभी तक complete नहीं हुआ लेकिन हां, this does feel very alien to me. Yeah. Because the things I get, the the love I get from people, especially the love I get. When somebody comes and meets me और वह कांप रहे होते हैं और वह आकर आपको कहते हैं कि एक एक picture बस. बताता ना कि वह बंदा मुझे आकर मिलता है और उनके मुंह पर जो ख़ुशी होती है ना, वह दिल ख़ुश कर देती है. It's,

Muzamil

you know, invaluable. Like, वह है कि उसका आप, you can't put a price to that. Exactly. But obviously there's that philosophical aspect to that as well. But then simultaneously, and what I'm trying to gauge is कि being a public personality, particularly in the fashion space, in the, you know, YouTube, Instagram space, growing up, हम साता लोग थे. कोई खानदानों में भी कोई ऐसा नहीं था कि जी वह कोई बड़े मशहूर शायद, कोई मशहूर जो है जी singer या उस तरह से. हम तो बस TV पर देखा करते होते थे कि ऐसे लोग होते हैं जिनको लोग देखा करते हैं जो कि brands के साथ काम करते क्या होता होगा? क्या होता होगा? You know, imagine. And, as a matter of fact, just a few, a couple of weeks ago I was I was out for a shoot, on with a fashion brand and I had one of the one of the kids from the my team with me. और मैं उसको यह बोल रहा था मैंने कहा यार अब वह इतनी अजीब सी बात है कि पूरी ज़िंदगी आप उसके बारे में सोचते हो, glamorize करते हो, सोचते यार काश मुझे भी कभी यह मौका मिले growing up and then when you actually have it, you don't even realize what you Have. What you have. Like, what you're doing. Like, what you're doing is just one in a 100,000,000, essentially. Right? And and so do you do you do you reflect on that sometimes? Que que, wow, like, irrespective of everything and we're going to talk about the problems. Everything has problems. कोई भी चीज़ perfect नहीं होती. Let's talk about the good things first. Yeah, the good things first. Problems बहुत सारी हैं. हां. So, उस उस aspect में do you ever think about कि यार, like, wow, I I I don't think I've I never imagined I'd be where I am. I'd be meeting the people that I'm meeting. I'm

Guest

I would be experiencing the thing that I'd be experiencing. अच्छा, that is दो दफा यह मेरे साथ हुआ है और दोनों दफा international trips पर हुआ है. Right. When we went to Turkey with utopia retreats and when we went for pizza. Right. Now pizza was a fully paid trip, ठीक है? They paid for everything and we went and we had our fun and we came back. And then initiate, हिरा won the world. Right. अब वह जब जीती तो अगले दिन जब मैं सुबह उठी ना तो I was literally I was like, shit यार, this is actually happening. What the hell? मतलब I am here flown by somebody else living in this luxurious Fancy, yeah. Fancy luxurious place, taking pictures, creating my own content and everything and you know living this cool life. यहां इसी hotel में मेरे साथ माइरा खान, फवाद खान सब रह रहे हैं, ठीक है? हमारी साहिद is living like ऊपर मेरे कमरे के ऊपर and I am like यार यह मतलब. This is real, this is happening. It's happening. And everybody is like, you know, अच्छा मेरे और ढेरा में सारे mix up भी बड़ा करते हैं. सारे आंखे चारे मुझे congratulate कर रहे थे award मिलने के बाद. अच्छा. I am like, नहीं मैं नहीं हूं यह. तो पर वह भी हूं वह जो feeling थी ना वह बड़ी मतलब वह बहुत amazing थी. हां. तो yeah, I felt that in two instances पर I was like What about utopia? Like it was, was that your first international trip? Yeah, that was my first international trip. इसीलिए मुझे हुआ था reflection किया. I'm like, oh, यार, I'm doing this. This is what I wanted to do. I love travelling and I always wanted to travel the whole world. ठीक है? अभी मैं कहीं नई जगह पर चली जाऊं ना, मेरा रोना निकल जाता कि oh my god, I'm doing this. तो वह चीज़ जो थी वह utopia से reflect हुई. फिर Dubai में it was a different scenario and different everything. Scale बहुत बड़ा था, हर चीज़ बहुत grand थी, वह भी था. Right. So, do you think you're gonna, travel more

Muzamil

करती रहूंगी. You know, every week people can send me the the the products and some team member can put them in a DHL box and give them to me and I can take a photo on the beach and, you know, I'm good.

Guest

Do you think you'd want to do something like that in the future? To be very honest, रोज़ उठकर मैं यही सोचती हूं कि कर लेती हूं. मतलब एक बार चली जाऊंगी तो हो जाएगा. But I think that living in Pakistan and living in the this culture and this society, you're so, like, वो जब वो सारी चीज़ें, reflections आपके पास आते हैं ना कि आप मतलब इतने आपको यह भी करना पड़ेगा, यह भी करना पड़ेगा, यह भी करना पड़ेगा by जाकर. तो फिर आप कहते हो यार, यह जो घर पर pamper होते हैं ना, यह नहीं हो सकेगा. Comfort zone से बाहर निकलने वाले का. हां, और फिर मुझे है कि मैं दस दिन से ज़्यादा अगर मैं रोऊंगी घर से बाहर, तो वह मेरे भी अच्छा नहीं रहेगा. I need to come back Right. To my roots. Right. So, वह है. But you never know. I really wanted want to do it, so I might just do it. Right.

Muzamil

Tell me a bit about the work that you're doing on Instagram. I personally and I'm gonna start with my feelings. I I personally feel like what's happening on Instagram is it's becoming a bit too commercial, and it's becoming a bit too monotonous. Mhmm. मेरे भाई से मेरी बात हो रही थी. He's working at Facebook. तो मैंने शिकायत क्यों से? मैंने कहा यार आप लोगों ने Pakistan का ज्याति की है. Reels ना देकर और Mhmm. Instagram music ना देकर because and we're going to lag as an industry because, you know, जब तक We don't have the tools. We don't have the tools, right? Like, we हम post में क्या कितना कर लें? क्या कर लें? हम video के अंदर क्या कर लें? कितना कर लें? Mhmm. आपका platform वैसे ही long format appreciate करता नहीं है. Mhmm. Right? Short format के अंदर वही है कि हम ठीक है videos में जो करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं वह कर रहे but that video video and then the reels is an entirely different thing. Reels is much more agile. आप टेढ़ा मेढ़ा कुछ भी करके डाल दो. It doesn't hit the same way as it hits as a post hits, right? Like आपने एक TikTok type video बनाकर डाल दी शुगल में enjoy करके आपने डाल दी. वह reels के panel पर ठीक लगती है. Mhmm. वह post के अंदर थोड़ा सा होता कि यार यह तो curated होनी चाहिए और उस तरह से होनी चाहिए. So I think वहां पर भी हम lack कर रहे हैं and because we don't have that creative space, we don't also I feel like don't have the space because the way that the industry works and a lot of people think, you know, that's where how influencers are. But actually, obviously influencers will be a particularly bigger bigger brand names जिन्होंने teams को sustain करना है, जिन्होंने uh-uh you know investments करनी है. बेहतर camera ख़रीदने हैं, बेहतर products ख़रीदनी हैं, phones ख़रीदने हैं. उन लोगों को वह तो they will essentially run by how the the commercial side runs. And the commercial side is still stuck on the frames and the, you know, एक ही time पर post करें सारे के सारे और एक ही बात करें और बस वह एक sort of TVC वाला style कि बस जी पहले वह TVCs बनते थे, अब वह क्या कर रहे कि वह सस्ते में दस different TVCs बनवा रहे हैं. Not a organic authentic,

Guest

you know, influencer led sort of a Thing, no creativity. Creativity, yeah. अच्छा, यह तो मैंने initially start होता sir, कह दिया there is lack of creativity. ठीक है. Yeah. दूसरा, मैं I'm the sort of person who मतलब मैं एक दफ़ा अगर कह दूं कि मैंने frame नहीं लगाना तो मतलब दुनिया इधर के उधर आ जाए मैंने frame नहीं लगाना. Mhmm. Sometimes you have to do it because obviously you have a business assistant. Right. और अभी भी लोगों को यह नहीं पता कि हमारे पीछे पूरी teams बैठी होती हैं. लोगों को लगता है यह आपने एक picture ही तो लेकर लगानी है. कहती वह नई बहन उस picture के पीछे जो पूरा

Muzamil

सबकुछ होता आपका बहुत बड़ा हो गया. अब तो you know आपके agents अलग हो गए, managers अलग हो गए, आपकी you know production team अलग अलग अलग अलग अलग अलग गए. तो it's like a huge

Guest

But people don't know ना. लोगों को लगता है कि मतलब one man छुआ यही आती है तो यही है. लेकिन अब मैं यह बताना चाहती हूं कि we have a team, we have managers, we have people who assist us, we have videographers, we have photographers. उनके बगैर आप नहीं आप एक बंदा सब कुछ नहीं कर सकता. वह time क्या? वह तीन साल, चार साल हमने कर लिया. Mhmm. अब उसके बाद वह नहीं हो सकता. अगर वही हम सब कुछ वही करने बैठ जाएंगे तो फिर हमारा काम बहुत slow हो जाए. Slow हो जाएगा and I think the scale that you're operating on, it's also very important. Yeah. You know, your if if you have let's say

Muzamil

अच्छा. So $4.70, $4.73 to be precise. $4.73 to be precise. So you're about to hit half 1,000,000 and that's a big milestone, inshallah. But obviously that's there is a certain level of expectation that comes from that level of an influencer as well. Right? KR, अगर वह influencer जाकर quality थोड़ी सी भी गिराती है तो वह it hits differently than a 20,000 follower वाला influencer. True. So obviously I understand कि commercial decisions में फिर आपको करना पड़ेगा because Because you have to sustain the team. Yeah. But do you think that's going to change though? Because we've had these conversations for the past three years and it's only gotten worse.

Guest

I just think that, people need to understand and influencers need to stand their ground. पता है क्या होता है? अब for example एक XYZ campaign आई है. सब मानें बीज में से दो लोग नहीं मानें. उनको या तो हां. फिर डाल या फिर उनको कोई incentive दे दो या कुछ कर दो कि या तो आपको होना बहुत ज़रूरी होता है, branding की तरफ़ से आपका नाम आता तो फिर आपको वह करते हैं, assist इतना करना हो, ठीक है? Right. काफ़ी मामलों में नहीं करते. वह उधर फिर आपकी standing ख़राब होती है. Right. तो मसला यह है that everybody everybody does not say no to frames. Everybody does not say no to so much branding, ठीक है? क्योंकि भाई पंद्रह second की video अब जो format आ रहा है, TikTok format की videos चल रही हैं, ठीक है? Right. पंद्रह second की video में आप brand को कितना दिखा लोगे? अगर दस second आप brand दिखाओगे तो आगे ही करेगा ना? आगे content क्या रहेगा? हां, there is no content. Is only the brand. है? Yeah. So, you need to understand that and it's specially the new, पता है क्या होता है? ज़्यादातर newcomers जो होते हैं ना वह मान जाते हैं try saying no. Yeah. Say no for once. क्या होगा? एक deal जाएगी ना, एक deal जाएगी सोएंगी, एक दोनों ना करके देख लो. हां. मैंने भी वह ना किया था तो तभी मुझे समझ आई थी कि oh, यार आगे भी कुछ होता है और हां वह. और same brand आ जाता है. Brand. Same Refund उसके हाथ मैंने कहा अच्छा ठीक है, मैं लगा देती हूं. क्योंकि it's like you build a family also, you work with that brand. आपकी association भी हो जाती है ना उस brand के साथ. Right. तो I was happy to put that frame but on my terms and conditions. Right.

Muzamil

So, there are a lot of things that happened. अच्छा, I thought, मेरी hope यह थी कि जो नया बच्चा आएगा ना शायद वह अब हमने क्योंकि हम नए थे. हमारे पास इतनी bargaining power नहीं थी. And so we had to listen to a lot of these brands and eventually evolve into it. मेरी यह hope थी कि नया बच्चा आएगा वह लड़ेगा ज़्यादा. वह कहेगा नहीं मैंने नहीं करना. नए बच्चे आकर कहते हैं आप बस हमें ले लो. तो फिर वह थोड़ी, I don't know, insecurity होती है, नए नए होते हैं ना? हां. हम भी जब नए थे, हम भी यही कहते थे. हां कहते थे वह तो अभी सी बात है कि like कि आप ऐसा में रख लें.

Guest

हम brand के साथ ही होता है एक charm होता है ना? वह अब हमारा charm खत्म हो गया है. अब हमें वह नहीं चाहिए. Brand की association नहीं चाहिए हमें. हमें काम चाहिए, अच्छा काम करके देना है हमने. Right.

Muzamil

What do you think about the newcomers? COVID has has brought out, like, a ton of new artists. Do you think or और मैं इस वजह से यह particularly कह रहा हूं because as a platform, Instagram apart from Reels. So Reels really sort of has introduced a new form of, communication and and and creativity. But because we don't have that in Pakistan as such, मैं literally कल ही अभी इन्होंने नई video panel launch किया ना तो video में अब आप वही हो गया आप full frame डाल सकते हो. Full frame करके आप उसमें जाएं और उसका आप swipe करते जाएं तो वह नीचे explore type में. Same चीज़ आ जाएं. हां आती रहती है. और मैं गया मैंने एक देखा तो you know, एक देवास I don't know किसी app के बारे में कुछ था. मैंने swipe किया तो कोई shampoo आ गई, swipe किया तो कोई chicken wings आ गए, swipe किया. And I was like, is this all Instagram is about? Now, like, what's going on? And I I feel like there's there's a lack of so ठीक है sure like there are there are old creators जिन्होंने अपनी एक space mark कर लिए और और उन वह space में कर रहे हैं उनका काम है वह कर रहे हैं. Mhmm. But there's no diversity like there's no newcomers आ रहे हैं तो वह आपको कुछ यह नहीं नज़र आया कि musicians बड़े अच्छे आए उसमें. You know, अनुराल was there. There are couple of days and another guy I discovered yesterday as well. But beyond that, I'm not seeing a lot of creative work on Instagram. Like, I'm, you know, like, it's it's all very bland. It's all very, oh, you know, hi guys.

Guest

Here's this new makeup. I'm trying. अच्छा नहीं, मेरे लिए it's very different. Sir, मेरा explore पर ही different है. तो मैं तो देखती हूं बहुत सारे ऐसे नए लोग आ रहे हैं who are doing really good stuff. नए mindset के साथ आते हैं ना. वह ज़्यादा creative होते हैं हमारे से. हम लोगों को सोचो creative juice निकाल दिया गया है ना. मतलब कितने मतलब अब थोड़ा सा break लेकर फिर creative होंगे ना. उन वह नए नए आए हैं उनकी creativity, उनकी videos, उनकी like they have come आप मतलब उनका passion ही यह लायदा है. और मैं उनको देखकर कहती हूं यार shit यह रोज़ एक video कैसे लगाते हैं? हां. यार यह रोज़ यह कैसे करते हैं? मतलब यह मैंने करना है. और उनसे देखकर inspire हो रही होती हूं मैं. But I think they're doing really well. I think they're doing amazing. अच्छा maybe some recommendations from you because my feed is just, भी horrible है, explore feed बहुत अच्छा.

Muzamil

Right, that's true. Explore feed के ऊपर, uh-uh, मैं वह नहीं किया. मुझे यह बताएं कि you're 28 right now. Yes. And and it it seems like the space that you're in, in in terms of blogging कह लें उसको, in terms of content creation कह लें, you've sort of, I don't know, made it तो आपने बहुत तरह से पहले कर लिया था. But you sort of,

Guest

Not really. Definitely I'm getting there. You're getting there? रोज़ मैं उठकर कहती हूं, अभी नहीं, अभी नहीं. Would be the metric where you would say कि यार this is like, this is my target and I'd say ठीक है. या is it just like an arbitrary metric कि पता नहीं 1,000,000 हो, शायद 2,000,000 हो, 3,000,000 हो, I don't know. I think go मैंने पहले भी यह कहा था going international is big, ठीक है? And that is what I want to do. I want to be a global influencer, not just be a part. I want to represent my country, but I want to do it on a global platform where I'm, you know, in direct competition with my... With the people I look up to. Right. ठीक है? तो वह मेरे लिए That's the next step for you. That is my goal right now. ठीक है? वह दो तीन साल से यही goal है अभी भी.

Muzamil

Do you think it's possible for पाकिस्तानीs to to be able to It is very hard. It is very hard. Because we're completely disconnected. As an economy, we're disconnected. And जब तक वह नहीं होगा तो? As economy,

Guest

as religiously, there are a lot of factors. I think पाकिस्तानीs को और Muslim countries को बहुत fashion से तो बहुत ही दूर रखा जाता है. तो मेरी तो main category fashion है. अब मैं diversifying उसके अंदर आती हूं. उसके अंदर में मैं पूरी तरह से नहीं आती हूं तो बड़े मसले हैं उधर. Right. But what's your what would be your five year goal? Five year, all all things go well. Where do you see yourself? I see myself doing the same thing but in a better way. Okay. And

Muzamil

Better for Dubai maybe?

Guest

No, I don't want to shift out of the country. Want to stay here. Want to be in Pakistan. I think Pakistan is a way. Pakistan ने जो हमें दिया है वह Dubai से हमें नहीं मिलेगा. ठीक है? Right. तो मुझे लगता है कि Pakistan में ही रहना चाहिए. मैं कह रही हूं ना globally represent करना है लेकिन Pakistan से Right. Represent करना तो यह करना है, यह goal है, यह aim है. Right.

Muzamil

But doing better better than what you're doing, फ़ायदा Right now. उसके अलावा is there any other image that comes to your mind?

Guest

अभी आ नहीं रही. बस और मैं इस चीज़ में भी बहुत मानती हूं कि आपको बताना नहीं चाहिए. आपको करके दिखाना चाहिए. हां, interesting. Let's just let's Yeah. Do it that

Muzamil

do you think there's a disparity between male influencers and female influencers in the industry?

Guest

Yeah, obviously. In in every job sector there is. मतलब, you are a male influencer. I'm a female influencer. We're putting through the same campaign. Even if you have less followers, you would get more money because apparently इसमें भी लोगों को लगता है कि आपने घर चलाना और हमने नहीं चलाना. भई, हमें भी घर चलाना होता है, हमारे भी घर होते हैं. सुनना हो रही है. हमारे data says कि women are,

Muzamil

are better at converting, revenue. So, for example, because most of the buyers online are women. Mhmm. And most of the followers that are an average female influencer will have are females. Mhmm. And so there is a higher chance that if a female influencer is doing a campaign, she will generate more revenue

Guest

than a male influencer. I just think that in our society when a man says something, people take him very seriously. Know, when a woman says something, people think कि चलो यह तो बोलती रहती है. ठीक है, हां, इसको इसको push back दे दो. Do you think women also

Muzamil

don't

Guest

push back enough? Yeah, do not stand their ground. I think, हमें ऐसा हमारी upbringing ऐसी होती है कि हमें वही सबर करना सिखाते हैं ना तो हम हर चीज़ में सबर ही कर लेते हैं. तो हमें यह चीज़ें अपने में से निकालने में जब आपको यह समझ आता है कि

Muzamil

कह रही है उसका दिमाग़ ख़राब है वह तो पता नहीं है. हां वह तो यह she Arrogant है. हां, rude है. यह इस तरह है. I have been labeled that

Guest

with everybody through everybody मतलब कि यह बहुत rude है क्योंकि यह ना कर देती है. हां. यह मुझे सब कहते हैं. Upfront कहते हैं. और मैं मैं इस चीज़ पर खोज होती हूं. मैं कहती हूं हां यार, ठीक है. मतलब मेरे मेरे set rules हैं. हां. और इसके ऊपर मैं रहूंगी. चाहे तुम मुझे जो मर्ज़ी कह रहे हो. PISA and and and the prime minister's meetup particularly attracted a lot of hate and and a lot of noise and chatter. Mhmm.

Muzamil

थोड़ा सा मुझे if you can run me through, what what what were your feelings at the time,

Guest

when that was happening? Actually, the the hate didn't particularly, come to me. It came to my sister. Right. It was a very hard time for her because it she only had one night of happiness when she want visa. That is it. Right. उसके बाद तो वह कहती थी कि इसको घर से बैठ ले जाओ, fangs, गांव कहीं कुछ कर दो, मेरे से दूर ले जाओ. हां. So, we were trying to, get her out of that because she has severe anxiety और उसकी वह ज़्यादा हो गई थी. उस दौरान, वह उस hate के दौरान. People don't realize कि वह जो screen case side पर जिस बंदे को वह hate भेजने हैं, वह भी इंसान है, उसका दिल है, वह hurt हो रहा है, उसकी anxiety trigger हो रही है, वह depression में जा रहा है, वह मतलब properly खा नहीं रहा, properly सो नहीं रहा. कुछ भी उससे नहीं किया जा रहा क्योंकि एक random बंदा AXYZ नाम के साथ उसको hate भेज रहा है. Mhmm. तो यह realize करना लोगों के लिए बहुत ज़रूरी है. अगले को इंसान समझो और इस तरह का hate मत भेड़. मेरे साथ directly नहीं हुआ था. हां, उसके बाद दो तीन instances हुए hate, आते हैं तो हम वह packaging में जब हम आते हैं ना तो वह packaging में हर जगह आते हैं. हां. रूलते भी packaging में साथ. तो वह हुआ था but it was not that bad for me. It was worse for her because she got it and people didn't people were constantly telling her that she should have not got it, which is She didn't have any control over it. She didn't. Exactly. That's my point. People nominated her and asked her to To come. To come. So she will come. Like, that'd be the dumbest thing. Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm getting the opportunity, I won't take it just because I will get hit. That's that is what I told her. I was like, you are the luckiest person right now, and so many people want to be in your place, But they can't be. तो बस शुक्र अदा करो और इसको जाने दो. And interestingly hate आता भी उन लोगों से है जिनको

Muzamil

आपके बारे में कुछ भी नहीं पता होता. So generally people who are following you are not gonna give you hate. Mhmm, they won't. हां. People who will... So even with the prime minister's meetup, I remember the girls got a lot of hate. Mhmm. Yeh fashion करती K. Yeh fashion करती हैं. But it didn't make any sense because they were boys who do tech, don't do politics, do tech. Mhmm. They were there. Mhmm. But आपने तो नहीं देखी ना उनकी journey. Mhmm. आपने तो नहीं देखा कि यार उन्होंने क्या काम किया है, कितनी मेहनत की है, कितना यह किया है. It's very easy for you to come in and just sort of आपने किसी का नाम सुना हो और आपने आकर hate throw कर दी. And then that obviously negatively impacts that other person beyond what you can imagine. Mhmm mhmm. But there's this idea that if you're a public figure, you just have to accept any communication thrown your way. Mhmm. And I find that quite odd because either आप criticism की बात करते हैं, I get that. I get that. ठीक है, मैं आता हूं. मैं कहता हूं यार, हिमाइल

Guest

तान नहीं से करी, video नहीं से बनाई, creative नहीं थी. हां, creative नहीं थी. Transition आपकी fall flat कर गई.

Muzamil

You know, like, that's that's just not we're not as a as a species,

Guest

we're not evolved to accept that. Our society is not. लोगों को यह नहीं समझ आती कि वह hate हमें नहीं भेज रहे थे. वह नावज़ुबिल्ला, अलारागरे, Yeah. But issue यह आता है इसमें कि लोगों को यह realize नहीं होता कि fashion industry जो है ना, वह बहुत बड़ी industry है. Right. वह economically भी बहुत strong है. हम जितने, हम जितना पैसा generate करते हैं, वह शायद एक मतलब हमें जहां पर बुलाया गया था, वह बहुत सारे factors को देखकर बुलाया गया था ना. Right. तो economically भी देखा गया था कि हम कितना पैसा generate कर रहे हैं country के rear, whatever. तो मैं करण चौहार भी अपने award shows पर यही बोल रहा था कि इतनी बड़ी industry है, कोई 9,000,000,000 की है something, ठीक है? और आप उसको ऐसे like you don't take men seriously in that industry. वह अपने चीज़ के ऊपर रो रहा था और मैं अपनी चीज़ के ऊपर रो रही थी. इन लड़कियों को seriously नहीं रहे And मुझे यह भी पता है meeting के अंदर there were a few people who straight up said कि इनको नहीं बुलाना चाहित. हां. They are not supposed to be here. यह लड़कियां इनको क्यों बुलाया है? हां. And that was a room filled with 90%. 98% men, तीन लड़कियां में हम ना और हेरा थे. बिल्कुल ऐसे ही. जो initially गए थे. बिल्कुल ऐसे ही. ठीक है? Digital Pakistan के उस पर. हां. तो मतलब आप यह देखो, आप ratio देखो, आप यह भी आप हमारे fashion को निकाल दो side पर रखो, ठीक है? आप मेरी education के हिसाब से भी देख लो. Followers ख़ाली देख लो, ठीक है? I have done iron and politics. I know whatever happens there. तो आप यह भी तो देखो ना कि women representation भी तो चाहिए ना? Mhmm. कि आप मतलब यह चाहते हो कि आपके घर की औरतों को representation ना मिले. Mhmm mhmm. ऐसा नहीं हो सकता. जब तक एक औरत बैठी नहीं होगी वहां पर, वह rules वैसे बना ही नहीं सकते. मर्द कभी भी वैसे rules नहीं बना सकता. जैसे वह कहते हैं minorities को दो, हम भी तो minority हैं ना तो हमें वह right तो दो. Minority भी नहीं है ना? You're 50% of the population. You need to be 50% but you're not. But minority in the sense society के तौर पर वही minority. Right right right. Right? Yeah. People still don't give us the full rights we deserve. उस तरह से हम minority है तो चलो हमें representation तो दो ना. चलो थोड़ी ही दे दो और 2% जो representation थी वह रहने दो. हां. तो वह issues आते हैं. Do you think?

Muzamil

Because I I particularly influencers के साथ यह हुआ. This this term called influenza. You've probably heard of it as well. After a certain while, I started seeing a lot of hate being diverted towards these girls, particularly girls. So you don't see that hate on Towards men. Towards youtubers जो कि लड़के हैं. But यह लड़कियों की तरह बहुत है कि यह देखो ज़रा यह ऐसी हैं, यह वैसी हैं, ऐसा करें यह, plastic हैं, यह you know ग़लत. And and then to be honest, I think the only person I saw that that that got that similar hate was was इरफ़ान जुनेजो जिसको लोगों ने आकर यह बात बोली कि यार यह तो जो है ना पैसा देखो ज़रा यह पैसे की नमाइश कर रहा है, यह, लोगों को ग़लत, मुझे याद है उसने एक video बनाई थी जिसमें this mother reached out to him and said कि you know you're giving my kid wrong goals by showing him your bike and these expensive cameras and all of those things. And I've seen you know similar conversations around you guys as well for example. You know, यह देखो तरह यह तीन महंगी कपड़े and Mhmm. वह सारा. What are your thoughts on that? Because and my thought process is that it should be open कि अगर कोई बंदा जिसकी जो इतनी स्थितात है वह उसके हिसाब से अपना अब जी दिखाए वह क्यों? दिखाए और वह उस community को दिखा रहे वह तो नहीं कह रहा है हर बंदे को कि भाई तुम भी आ जाओ, तुम भी आ जाओ. Mhmm. वह कह रहा कि this is my lifestyle and obviously people who can understand that lifestyle will begin to follow that person. Space open है, space आपके लिए. Space affordable fashion की भी है. Space, luxury fashion की भी है. But what are your thoughts on on on this? यार,

Guest

people don't understand that एक journey होती है ना पीछे. मतलब हम लोगों ने बहुत मेहनत की है और मैं वह comment पढ़कर ना हंसती हूं क्योंकि नहीं किया उन्होंने कुछ भी finance. हम लोगों ने जो किया है, आपने बर्बूते पर किया है. ठीक है, they financed our education and they made us Supported you and Exactly. They made us who we are. But monetarily, in this field, whatever we did was on our own. I didn't even initially we wanted a camera. And I said, no, we're not gonna ask for money. We will generate the same money from this. This is our business. हमारे इस business से इतने पैसे generate होंगे कि इसमें से camera निकलेगा तो हम camera लेंगे. Mhmm. वरना हम नहीं लेंगे. Mhmm. This is my thought process and this is how I go on with life. और business ऐसे ही होता कि एक business में से इतना पैसा निकल रहा है तो आप उसमें reinvest करो वरना फ़ायदा नहीं है, ठीक है? ठीक है? यह मेरे बाप का पैसा नहीं है और यह उस तरह से नहीं आया और मैं अगर किसी को दिखा भी नहीं हूं, हमने story में लगा भी नहीं हूं. इसलिए मैं अपनी journey के बारे में I'm very open. I tell them I have worked, I started working when I was probably 16 or 17 because I wanted that Financial independence. Financial independence. मुझे यह समझ आ गई थी कि अपने पैसे अपने होते हैं. Right. ठीक है? You're not answerable to anybody. तो मतलब मैंने हर चीज़ की है. Mhmm.

Muzamil

To pursue set finalship, you know, independence. A lot of this hate, particularly on Twitter when I look at it, I I find that coming from a particular audience

Guest

who should have been celebrating you. And so I feel like there is They didn't know the journey ना. So I don't blame them. When I when they send when some when somebody sends me hate, don't blame them. I don't even curse them. I don't I don't say anything to them because they don't know. They don't know anything. They're just seeing a picture and they're sending me it. एक ने कहा था एक tweet मुझे literally याद है. कहता है चिपकली की शक्ल की बहनें, ठीक है? तो मैं कह रही हूं यार यह तो sweet देखिए भाई तुम यह तो देख लोगे हमने उन्हें काम क्या क्या किया है.

Muzamil

हां. वह ख़ाली वह dumb वह नहीं हैं. हां. आपको जो लग रहा है वह नहीं है. एक पीछे army है, लोग हैं, वह सब काम कर रहे हैं. आप मतलब इतनी simple नहीं होती दुनिया के वह बेवकूफ है और वह बेवकूफी करी जा रहे और उसके ऊपर भी चल रहा है, wards भी मिल रहे हैं, brands भी आ रहे हैं. Brands भी बेवकूफ हैं. हां. कि वह भी उनके पास आई जा रहे हैं. Exactly. That's generally not how things work.

Guest

और मैं तो I'm very particular. I don't even post funny videos or something like that कि लोग समझें कि मतलब बंदी dumb है ना. मतलब मैं एक, I want to come across as an intellectual person, right? When you speak to me, I talk to you about everything. तो अब वह मेरी side conversation cross नहीं जाती है या लोगों को भी बस यह लगता है कि fashion में जो लड़की है वह part of my life that pays my bills. Yeah.

Muzamil

Do you think you're going to expand out of Instagram influence content, in terms of maybe build a brand, maybe, diversify? You know, you never know. Platform ban हो जाता है. Mhmm. Things change, your your interests change. Do you think you'd you'd like to diversify your,

Guest

income source or or what you're doing in terms of your everyday work? Yeah, I want to do YouTube really bad. वह होता नहीं है. बस long format videos हैं, थोड़ा मुश्किल होता है और with our flow of work, it becomes harder. Like, every time we say कि अब तो बनाएंगे हम video. Vlogs phone में पड़े हुए हैं, camera में पड़े हुए हैं, edit होने बाकी हैं. Right. ठीक है? तो वह थोड़ा मुश्किल हो जाता है. I do want to do YouTube. I am doing TikTok simultaneously.

Muzamil

How's TikTok going? It went really well initially. उसके बाद ban VPN पर चल रहा है? हां, VPN पर चल रहा है. पर फिर भी चल रहा है. मतलब मैं तो चला रही हूं. पता नहीं मेरा मैंने कल I tried to run it through a VPN और वह कोई video load ही नहीं हो रही थी. Slow चलता है या? आपका VPN ख़राब होगा, मेरी तो चलती है. अच्छा. So it's a problem with the VPN. वैसे चल Yes, जाती वैसे चल जाती है, हां. Right और उस पर audience वग़ैरह कैसी है?

Guest

The audience we get because हम लोग उसी तरह की videos post करते तो हमारे पास वही आती है. वह जो attraction

Muzamil

Generally Instagram पर पाए जाते हैं. नहीं नहीं, जो मेरे काम में interested होते हैं. Ok. ठीक है? मुझे अभी तक वही track होता है. Have you been able to find, have you been able to see कि यार अच्छा TikTok के ऊपर audience comparatively different है? Not in a bad way, but but a different audience. No no, yes, it is very different.

Guest

Like, I can tell from a video. I can even tell कि this would work on TikTok and this would work on Instagram.

Muzamil

Right. तो that उनका interest, उनका वह Different होता है. Different होता है. How how regularly are you posting on TikTok?

Guest

It is three stories per day, but I'm not that regular because of VPN. वह फिर चलाना पड़ता है, battery जाती है बकवास. Three stories per day is, like, what? It's, like, three videos per day? Three videos per day. Stories, Is that, is that, like, a Algorithm, yeah. If you work like that, तो you'll go up in the for you page. Oh, really? Yeah. And exploration, how how amazing is the exploration? I've heard it's, like, जो basically virality का element है वह सबसे ज़्यादा powerful है TikTok का. I am amazed. मैं जब भी TikTok खोलती हूं, चार घंटे तो आकर कहीं नहीं है. मतलब आप खोलकर बैठ जो और आप scroll कर आपको पता ही नहीं चलता कि दुनिया कहां की काम कौन है? And it is, इतनी diversification है, इतने लोग हैं, इतने इतना कुछ कर रहे हैं और वहां पर जिस तरह का content वन रहा है ना, आप कहते हो यार यह यह कहां है लोग? यह कहां होते हैं? हां. वहां पर भी बहुत amazing content वन रहा है. You just need an eye for it and you need to see all of that. गंद हर जगह पर है.

Muzamil

अच्छी चीज़ें भी हर जगह पर हैं. Do you think TikTok will become a mainstream channel on its own? Or do you think it's a it's a gateway, platform? But for a lot of people, YouTube is a gateway platform for a lot of people. Mhmm. YouTube Instagram Sorry. YouTube is not a gateway. Instagram is a gateway for a lot of people. Instagram localized economy निकली. Mhmm. But for a lot of people,

Guest

it's it's where they connect with their audience and YouTube is where they actually Main medium, हां. Right. अच्छा, to be very honest, worldwide तो it is already, very much a successful platform, ठीक है? Right. हमारे यार दो महीने बाद ban हो जाता है. तो अब हम क्या कर लें और क्या निकाल लें? हमारे जो TikTokers हैं, जो famous TikTokers हैं, they're doing pretty well. They have like 14,000,000, 15,000,000 followers which is अच्छा, that's insane. That's that's Exactly, that's big, right? Yeah. तो I think हम chance देना चाहिए ना. उनको भी तो भरने का chance दो. वह क्या कर सकते हैं? उनकी potential क्या है? वह तो explore करो. अगर हम लोगों ने इतना कुछ कर लिया है Pakistan के लिए, वह हमें chance मिलेगा तो करेंगे ना. हां. मैं अपना लिए नहीं कह रही. मैं तो वह छोटी creator हूं यह सब Overall एक मैं industry में हूं. मैं उनके लिए कह रही हूं TikTokers को chance. That's why I'm saying. Ok, so TikTokers की chance हुई तो बात, that's that's absolutely true. But It is a platform. It is the it is a big platform. It is a major platform. That it's going to ever overpower YouTube, for example? Yeah. They can work It has already done it. What is shorts? Mhmm. It has changed the game altogether for मतलब वह app आई. Instagram reels भी essentially same. हां, जैसे Snapchat आया था ना तो Instagram stories लाया था और YouTube भी stories लाया था. Mhmm. उन्होंने उस app को तोड़ने की कोशिश की, ठीक है? जो कि big monopolies करती हैं. Right. अब इन्होंने TikTok आई, YouTube ने shorts निकाला which is very interesting. अब मैं यह भी देख लेती हूं जो मैंने TikTok पर नहीं नज़र आता shorts पर खोलकर देख लेती हूं. Right. And I find really good content creators over there as well. Shorts पर काफ़ी explore, कर सकते हो आप. और उन्होंने Instagram में बनानी reels. What is reels? Essentially it's like a It's it's a TikTok का format है, ठीक है? अब हमारे पास TikTok man है तो हम देखते हैं reels और हम देखते हैं shorts. Right. जिनके पास TikTok है, वह TikTok देखते हैं. हां. Facebook ने अपना, नाम change किया है और उसने सबसे बड़े content creator से collaboration किए हैं. Mhmm. वह कौन है?

Muzamil

वह TikToker है. अच्छा? हां. और उसको Facebook पर ले आए. हां. I heard it say. हां, बेलेम I think. हां हां हां हां हां absolutely. Guy who does that कि yes, he is the world's biggest TikToker. Yes. The guy who does this? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I was gonna need TikTok say, I didn't think about that. Interesting.

Guest

This is the biggest platform. Right? Are you doing snack as well? You're just TikTok? Right? No. Only TikTok. Snack is, snack.

Muzamil

Snack is snack. Because I heard कि snack almost has the same audience now as TikTok. Mhmm. Because of the ban, obviously, they they were able to break that out. TikTok की space क्या है अभी? Fifteen seconds है या one minute तक आप कर सकते हैं? I think one minute तक हो गई भी है. Sixty second, 60 तो हो गई भी है. Sixty seconds तक हो गई भी है. और

Guest

generally This is a big thing. हम लोग बस उसे consider नहीं करते हैं क्योंकि हमारे में आधे

Muzamil

आधा वक़्त ban रहती है. It is a big thing. यह जो Gen Z है हमारी, वह तो देखती है TikTok. असल में मसला यह है ना कि मेरे लिए for example, I I I've thought about TikTok quite quite a few times. Maybe not in the way that TikTok is. I don't know, I can't do those dances. Same, likewise. The millennials. Yeah. Millennial problems here. But but I think I would still want to explore the platform. I just find it quite cumbersome to get with the with the new program. Like, editing tools, and it's it's it's it all seems so complicated to me because I'm so used to the whole Instagram Facebook. अच्छा मैंने पता क्या किया है? उसका सांत्रि का निकाल है. मैंने उसके अंदर अपनी

Guest

चीज़ ढूंढ लिया है. Like, I know what to do with my thing. Like, मैं dances नहीं कर सकती, ठीक है? नहीं होता. ठीक है. होता ही नहीं है, ठीक है? और मैंने उसके अंदर से वह चीज़ें निकालकर उन्हीं गानों पर अपनी चीज़ें बनाना शुरू कर दी. ठीक है. Which worked for me. Right. And my videos were doing the same. As your average any other video? No no no, they were doing pretty well. Like, जिस तरह के करते हुए. काफ़ी time हो गया. Beach में रुक जाती हूं ना, beach में ban हो जाता है ना, क्या करें? वह enthusiasm, वह पता है TikTokers तो VPN पर लगातार

Muzamil

कर रहे हैं. अब हमें होता है जी कि वह ख़र्च VPN लगाएं, फिर ख़र्च करें. But the barrier to entry has become so complicated. Plus

Guest

वह millennial वाला भी चीज़ है ना आगे. इतना कुछ ख़वारी नहीं होती. हां,

Muzamil

unfortunately. Where do you see Instagram going? Because Reels is not coming to Pakistan anytime soon. You've got the posts. You've got the standard, but it's like, caption. Is that is the industry gonna stay the same? Or do you think there are gonna be some more creative, more more innovative ways to, explore content?

Guest

I just think that it is becoming too monotonous and it will be, it will fade away like other platform, sorry, platforms did, Facebook did. TikTok में बहुत सारी चीज़ें move हो गई हुई हैं. हमारे लिए नहीं move हो रही. हमारे यहां तो हमें देता नहीं है, tools मिलते नहीं है या हमारी government tools ban कर देती है. Mhmm. तो हमारे लिए two ways लड़ाई है. अब देखिए beach में से निकलता क्या है? But then again I think थोड़ा fade away हो जाएगा. Like Instagram will not have the monopoly that it had for The the long new generation, Gen Z, उनका तो attention span तीन seconds का यार. हां. वह कहां देखेंगे आपकी एक minute की video? हां. वह नहीं देखते? Unless you're like a K pop star.

Muzamil

हां.

Guest

तो यह चीज़ें you need to analyze. As a as a woman,

Muzamil

how do you feel about being in Pakistan, at this point in time? There's been a lot happening. I know it's, it's been a tough couple of years. What are your thoughts on on on the space, on the on the environment?

Guest

You do feel unsafe. I am a woman who travels alone, who does everything on my own. तो बहुत मुश्किल हो जाती है आपके लिए. बहुत सारी चीज़ें करनी बहुत मुश्किल हो जाती हैं. You have to have safety tools. I, roam around with a taser, which is not good. But अच्छा, that's like a standard protocol now? Standard protocol. It's always in my bag और मेरा reflex action है कि कोई अंधेरी सड़क आती है, हाथ taser पर जाता है. Right. निकाल लो और on रखो. हां. और फिर आप specially आप when you're traveling outside the city, protests हो जाते हैं, कुछ हो जाते हैं. तो you need to have security, right? And you're on your own. What are you gonna do? Yeah. और फिर अल्लाह हिसाब फ़ाज़िद करने वाले हैं बस.

Muzamil

नहीं, but obviously you you feel insecure. But do you think this is gonna change for the better? Or do you think there's not enough being done, to maybe?

Guest

There's not, yeah, there is not enough being done. I think जो cases हैं court में, उनके ऊपर बहुत जल्दी वह होनी चाहिए, like Action होनी चाहिए. Action होनी चाहिए, उनको सज़ाई मिलनी चाहिए ताकि वह दूसरों के लिए lesson हो, दूसरे यह करने से पहले दस्तफ़ा सोचें. Right. There are a lot of mental health issues, right? Mental health issues की वजह से वैसे लोग पैदा होते हैं, ठीक है? अब हमारा corona की वजह से वह two times worse हो चुका है already. Mhmm. तो people are at loose, ठीक है? आपने वह रोकना है, आपने वह कैसे रोकना है? Example set करना है ना? जब तक वह example set नहीं होगा, अभी तक एक बंदे का तो example set नहीं हुआ. Motorway case निकल गया. Mhmm. नूर्ण मुक़दम case का मतलब चली जा रहा है, चली जा रहा चली जा रहा है. आप एक example set कर दो. आगे दो साल, तीन साल, पांच साल के लिए at least president set हो जाएगा कि नहीं यार, नहीं यह नहीं करना. इस औरत को हाथ लगाएंगे तो jail जाएंगे. Mhmm. अब हमारे लिए insecurity होती है लेकिन हमारी country में अगर international female bloggers आती हैं, उनको full security होती है. उनको कोई हाथ नहीं लगाता. वह अकेली जाती हैं और वह हर जगह जाती है. ठीक है? उनको कोई कुछ नहीं कहता. क्योंकि repercussion बहुत strong है. Exactly. उनके ऊपर तो मतलब सबको पता है अगर इसको हाथ लगाएंगे तो गए.

Muzamil

We're at the fifty two minute mark, and I'd like to ask you a question that I generally ask all of my guests. You're twenty eight years old right now. In in thirty years, you'll be 58. You'll you'll be at the pinnacle of your youth, but you'd be at the pinnacle of your life, essentially. That's the most power that that people have. You've already mentioned that you don't you don't intend to leave Pakistan unless, obviously, things happen. Yeah. Unless forced. Forced. Yeah. How do you see Pakistan thirty years from now? Knowing what you know now, you meet so many people. You meet so many very, very powerful people, very, very successful people. Mhmm. Having conversations with them. How do you think the country's evolving, and and what would it look like thirty years from now?

Guest

I want to give children hope, but I'm in a hopeless situation right now. मतलब I have seen whatever goes behind the doors, ठीक है? तो मुझे लगता है वह जो change आना था ना, वह नहीं आया. Right. तो अब जो change आएगा वह पता नहीं कब आएगा? Right. शायद आ जाए. You never know. But अभी तक कोई आसान नहीं नज़र आ रहे change के और जो inflation जान जा रही है, महंगाई जान जा रही है, I don't see it in a good place. But then again बहुत सारी चीज़ें prosper भी करी हैं. Tourism हमारा is blooming. COVID आ गया था उसकी वजह से थोड़ा कम हो गया लेकिन it मतलब कुछ कुछ aspects में काम हो रहा है. Right. कुछ aspects नीचे जा रहे हैं. Do you think overall we'll be at a better place or a worse place? अगर काम पाकिस्तानियों को बहुत बड़ा मसला है कि corruption बोलते हैं आप. अगर corruption ख़त्म हो रही है तो I think we can be very good at whatever we do. जब तक corruption रहेगी तब तक नहीं. And do you think corruption on a higher level? Because I personally feel like we're corrupt on every level. No, we're corrupt on every level. Every person that we interact with is corrupt. Yeah yeah. You want to come talk to me, आप उससे बात कराने की मतलब सिफ़ारिश सिफ़ारिशी

Muzamil

successful हमें लगता है कि यार कोई ना कोई वजह है. मुझे वह privilege की conversation इसी वजह से बड़ी fascinating लगती है because देखें यार तो कोई बंदा वैसे तो अगर कोई बंदा just just because you have money does not make you successful. And does not make you privileged as well. Does not make you privileged as well. Uh-huh. In a certain way. Yes. It might, it might not. I think to be successful, there are a lot of different things that you have to work on. And, for a lot of people, if they have money now, doesn't mean they always have it had it. If they have power now maybe they work really hard to get it. True. The fact that, you know, आप expect करते हैं कि क्योंकि हमारे यहां यह है, we have this idea that every rich person is basically चोर का बच्चा या

Guest

Overnight मिला है या

Muzamil

बाप की वजह से मिला है या कोई दोस्त यार था जो उसका वह है and I've heard this about other people. I've heard this about myself. You know, when they see they're not going to आप गोरे को देखेंगे ना आप उसकी story पढ़ने की कोशिश process, right? Because that thought process says that I can't do it and because I can't do it, that other person probably had different cards to play with. That is why he was able to. अगर आप यह समझें कि यार शायद अगला बंदा भी मेरे जैसा था, वह कर गया और शायद मैं भी कर सकता हूं. You can join the community as well. Easy peas at JazzCash यहां पर कभी appear हो रहा होगा. You can support the channel if you'd like. You know, we accept anything from 1 rupee to as much as you'd like. It's the thought that counts. इसी के साथ साथ हमारा नया podcast start with the Pakistan pivot. It's, you know, we talk about current affairs, we talk about politics, regional politics, policies. And we particularly talk to government officials, ministers, senators, policymakers to to sort of get an understanding of exactly क्या हो रहा है Pakistan के अंदर. If So you were if you'd like to watch that, the the link is appearing somewhere, it's also down there below. But, anyways, this was Sayyam Muzamelas Sanjaydi. You were watching Thought Behind Things. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you the next one.