Zervaan Bunshah: The Virtual Artist A household brand Lays recently introduced a change to their staple blue flavor which they quickly retrieved and brought back the original. What added to this change becoming a digital highlight was Bunshah's hilarious video ranting about the new taste that had 7 million views in the span of hours.
By Kavya Pillai
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Zervaan Bunshah recently went viral for voicing the peoples opinion in his iconic comedic manner about a true Indian snack, chips. A household brand Lays recently introduced a change to their staple blue flavor which they quickly retrieved and brought back the original. What added to this change becoming a digital highlight was Bunshah's hilarious video ranting about the new taste that had 7 million views in the span of hours. "Honestly, I am just so happy that my midnight munchies are sorted. Not just mine, but everyone's midnight snack is sorted, I feel. We won collectively as consumers, and the brand too is being extremely loyal to us," he said. But chips are not all this content creator has gone viral for.
Before facing a virtual audience, Bunshah honed his skills in theatre, in a recent chat he said, "No, I wasn't always a content creator. I'm originally and still a theatre actor and vocal artist. I started showcasing my craft on social media as well and gradually people started associating with my content, especially for highlighting the Parsi community of India." While the world is often used to seeing digital successes overnight, Bunshah's chronology states it took him two years before going viral on the internet. "It took me 2 years and I feel I am still not viral enough. I am putting in my hard work so maybe 2 more years may do the trick? And yes, about tweaking my content at times, I feel, if you don't produce your content according to your audiences and what they enjoy the most, you're in for a violent reality check. It is always important to gauge your audience and their interest and create content accordingly to stay relevant and grow more," he said.
As an actor we asked him what were some lesser known challenges of being a content creator that are not spoken about often, "There are many troubles that creators deal with while producing content, ranging from creative block to changing algorithms," he explained. However, one lesser known difficulty "has to be working with brands as it takes a lot of effort and brainstorming to find a mid-ground on content and aligning it with your creativity and their intended communication". "Considering that they pay us and we have a responsibility towards our audience and content as well, it, at times, comes with a few hiccups," he added.
Academy Award winner Viola Davis once described fellow Oscar winner and icon Meryl Streep as someone who is always watching, waiting to see what character or personality she can steal to present to the audience in her next role. Such is the case with Bunshah, when asked about what were the reactions when people around him find out that he revealed, "It is always just good old fashioned banter when people understand that I have taken references from their lives or have tried to put their elements and traits into my sketches." As for people finding out who some of his loved characters are, such as Nobo aunty, Parsi uncles and more, he confessed, "I like keeping my characters ambiguous so that the audiences can come up with theories and I get to choose which one I like." As for his prompt engagement with viewers in the comments section he explained, "Honestly, I just love chatting with people, seeing how they engage with my post, and at times banter with them." "At the end of the day, they've taken out their time to interact with my content and I'd like to acknowledge it. I think it is not a bad thing to give time to the people who love me and my content," he concluded.
