Content is queen: Meet Dharna Durga and laugh along with the world she sees

Social media star Dharna Durga is 22 and navigating fame one step at a time, but she knows exactly where she’s going

At 22, most Indians worry about life, how their career might shape up, and what to do next. Dharna Durga worries about keeping her 300K Instagram followers hooked, which posts will resonate most with people, and how to balance brand integration with a platform that is all about authentic engagement.

Content creator and social media star Dharna Durga uploaded her first video in May 2020, after being urged by her friends. (Photographs by Raj K Raj)

Durga plays various characters and people, most of which are drawn from her observations of people around her. (@dharnaaaaa)

But she did end up publishing her first video in May 2020. “It was me as a character called Bubble, quarantined at home, watching TV, playing Ludo – an entire day’s routine,” she recalls. It did well enough that she kept sharing more clips.

Durga says she is still getting used to the fact that people now recognise her in public. But that is something she’ll have to get used to quickly, if she wants to realise her dream of becoming an actor. (Photo by Raj K Raj)

“Everywhere I look, I see characters,” Durga says. “When I see someone and think, ‘Hey this is something I could imitate,’ I go home and think about how I can turn that into a Reel.”

Srishti Dixit, Kusha Kapila, Anisha Dixit and Shraddha Jain are all top content creators who have their own iconic characters.

Srishti Dixit

@srishtipatch