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Capital Mind CEO Deepak Shenoy backs 'Life of Puja' amid 'industry plant' claims: 'Haters are everywhere'
Deepak Shenoy's remarks come days after Pujarini Pradhan publicly addressed allegations that labelled her an “industry plant” and a “social media construct”.
Deepak Shenoy, founder and CEO of Capitalmind, has come out in support of Pujarini Pradhan, the creator behind the popular Instagram account ‘@lifeofpujaa’, amid an ongoing online debate around her authenticity.
Taking to X, Shenoy dismissed criticism directed at the creator and encouraged her to continue her work. “Haters are everywhere. Just do your thing. Everything can be learnt. Even rocket science. The idea of pedigree and degree determining what you can do or comment on, is bullshit. Keep it flowing @lifeofpujaa!” he wrote.
His remarks come days after Pujarini publicly addressed allegations that labelled her an “industry plant” and a “social media construct”.
(Also Read: Lifeofpujaa row explained: Pujarini Pradhan hits back at accusations of being industry plant)
Who is ‘lifeofpujaa’ and what is the controversy surrounding her?
Pujarini Pradhan, a content creator from a village in West Bengal, runs the ‘@lifeofpujaa’ account, which has over 6.7 lakh followers. Her videos focus on daily life, literature, culture, feminism and personal reflections. Most of her videos are shot inside her modest home, often featuring stacks of books alongside everyday household items.
The controversy began earlier this month when some influencers and commentators questioned her background and authenticity. Critics pointed to perceived inconsistencies in her lifestyle, suggesting her content may be staged or managed by a team. Terms like “industry plant” were widely used online to imply that her rise was orchestrated rather than organic.
Responding to the allegations, Pujarini said she had never hidden being represented by an agency and shared details of her journey as a creator. She also pointed out that this agency only handles her brand deals, while she does shooting and editing videos on her own.
The content creator suggested that the backlash intensified after she began expressing opinions on topics like feminism and politics. “They were fine until I started giving my opinions on feminism and politics. They want to see suffering in every video. They want me to complain about life. They want to see sadness,” she said.
“But the moment I started making money from my videos, when I started giving liberal opinions, then they felt like I’m a danger, and they started making conspiracy theories,” she added.
Framing the issue as a larger pattern, Pujarini said such scrutiny often targets creators from modest backgrounds trying to grow online.
(Also Read: Hyderabad founder sells ₹15 crore company to start career as content creator at 39)
Support pours in
Supporters of Pujarini have since rallied behind her, arguing that the backlash reflects more on audiences than the creator herself.
“The ones creating this outrage are serial offenders, across platforms, their relevance comes only from this & they should be ignored absolutely,” one user wrote.
Another commented, “This is so uncomfortable to even think about… why is everything so hard for elite urban intellectuals to accept that a woman in a village joint family setup can have opinions and movie buffs recommendations most people could not even comprehend… such a witch hunt.”
A third user wrote, “Funny how privileged women collectively lose their mind when a simple woman is just being herself online. She wears cotton sarees and lives in a village while reading English books? Must be a conspiracy theory.”
