Social Media Star of The Week: Apurva Asrani

The filmmaker converted the “Your accent is so sexy…” trend into a “Your vulnerabilities are so sexy” Reel and addressed everyday mental health issues

Depression, social anxiety, body shaming, inability to get out of bed, work anxiety, therapy, relationship issues, childhood traumas, not worthy of being loved—feelings and thoughts of all human beings. Also issues that filmmaker Apurva Asrani addressed in his recent popular Reels while following the ‘your accent is so sexy’ Insta trend.

Apurva’s (above) Reels addressed depression, social anxiety, body shaming, inability to get out of bed, work anxiety, relationship issues, childhood traumas, not worthy of being loved and therapy

The mind reader

The most common response? People asking if he read their minds! In numbers, it hit 174k views in one afternoon, as opposed to his usual 7 to 10k views, besides hundreds of shares.

“That surprised me. I didn’t think people would want to share dark content. But there was some humour in the video, which made it relatable,” Apurva says.

Social media is full of people sharing bright moments. Apurva has done this aplenty, posting pictures of his 14-year-long same-sex relationship. But when they split up earlier this year, he uploaded posts where he wasn’t smiling. People asked why the content was so sad.

“I felt pressured. People weren’t prepared for the vulnerability. But if they have been inspired by my highs, it’s only fair they know my lows,” says the 43-year-old.

Facing the darkness within

“We aren’t any one thing—whether it’s depressed, anxious or happy—all the time. The human mind can fluctuate between many different states. In trying to understand why my relationship failed, I realised if we were able to talk to each other about our feelings, it would make it easier to navigate relationships,” explains the man behind Aligarh (2015) and Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (2020).

Vulnerability must be accepted. “This is me. Take it or leave it. The point is, life goes on. I can be sexy, funny and approachable, and yet be dealing with mental health issues,” he says.

Mental health awareness is much more since the pandemic. “People have come face to face with their darkness. Hopefully, we will be able to normalise cancelling a social engagement due to an anxiety attack instead of a cold,” he concludes.

karishma.kuenzang@hindustantimes.com

Follow @kkuenzang on Twitter and Instagram

From HT Brunch, October 31, 2021

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch