Anushka Bidani: Your bio says ‘it’s mostly angst here with occasional happiness’. If it’s not always roses and rainbows here, what makes you stay?
Shiningsouls41: Well, I am an angst, slow burn lover and the ship #PraNish that mostly drove me here had a similar dynamic when they were starting off…the constant to and fro, ‘but they could’ve just talked to each other instead of talking to other people’ trope — like Miss Rodrigo once said, it was always “1 step forward and 3 steps back” with them. So we would get hints of trouble in paradise, and then few days later sudden updates of them chilling together. But that’s how life is…I guess the relatability and ‘real people’ made me stay here…and as for celebrities, sometimes you get to see two completely different personalities of the same person on camera and off camera but I haven’t seen much of a drastic change in these two boys after they came out from the Bigg Boss house – so that also helped.
AB: Why the name Shiningsouls41? Why not something explicitly related to #PraNish?
Shiningsouls41: I wanted a neutral name because often it happens that when we are obsessed with something – we never know till when that obsession is going to last…I have seen BB pages dedicated to one celebrity in a particular season changing to a different page name altogether in the next season. Those kind of seasonal stan accounts are very frequently seen on social media, and that change, at that time, is very abrupt for fans to absorb. So I wanted to keep the name open ended from the very first moment, so that people who become connected to this page don’t feel any sudden shock if someday I grow out of this phase and edit some other show/celebrity at a later point in my life. Plus, it gave me an individuality — when I started there were already so many pages with pranish_(xyz) that I wanted a separate identity for my page to stand out.
AB: What made you first start this page?
Shiningsouls41: I started this page on 28th May 2022. At that point of time, they were heading for another reality show together [Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi] and the whole fandom thought we would get more content around them together…and I always wanted to express and document my obsession around these two boys somewhere to look back in future. So I thought this is the right time to start a page since I can make edits around BB as well as the new show and that would also contribute into creating a hype around them which would eventually help in increasing their popularity and fan base cause that’s how reality shows work in TV…
We all know that that show didn’t turn out the way we had wanted for them and that was a rough patch for the fandom as well..I could see the fandom disappointed and disheartened everyday…so then I continued mostly to keep their hopes up, as well as mine; to keep away that morose energy that was engulfing the fandom.
AB: You talk about how you feel making edits around them would create hype and increase their popularity. Could you elaborate upon this? How does fans creating hype influence popularity? And how does this popularity help these guys in their careers?
Shiningsouls41: Edits influence popularity of celebrities because that’s just how the algorithm is built around Instagram!
The community that I have built here obviously comes from the common love towards a reality show like BB…Everytime a new season comes, there are always old clips/old season contestants that would also be in news – which automatically happens because the community compares seasons of two contestants to the extent of holding debates regarding task performances of both seasons. The edits that I make are always accompanied with hashtags of individual celebrities as well as BB tags so my page would be automatically suggested to the viewers of this show because that’s how AI behind the algorithm works! Through this, even the new fans or someone who isn’t even aware of contestants of previous seasons of a show would get to know about them…More fans means more hype! And nowadays channels pick up those celebrities for shows who are most talked about on social media…
Of course, talent will make someone last long in industry. But the initial breaks are given on the basis of who the audience wants to see most on their TV…there are many pairs that have been made because audience wanted to see them together and created their hashtags and then the channel creatives thought to write a show around them and incorporate their popularity into helping them increase their channel’s TRP…because ultimately it’s a business at the end of the day so whatever sells is something that will be given priority/spotlight…this way it will also boost these celebrities into getting jobs in entertainment industry ’cause that’s the first and foremost reason why they signed up for a show like BB — because, let’s be fair, nobody does a show like BB when everything is going good in their career. They do it only when their popularity has died down over the years and they are out of quality work, or when they are a complete newbie and want to find a door to enter the industry.
AB: Your edits are beautiful. Where did you learn video editing?
Shiningsouls41: I am a self taught editor…I learnt by observing edits of other editors. Before opening my own page I was myself a fan so I consumed a hell lot of edits on Instagram — and I must also say here that my liking around these two boys became more firmly established after I saw edits of certain pages namely shrutiedits, infinitesouleditz…
I mean if you still see some of my initial edits on my page you can notice how I was really struggling with it or trying to figure things out. I have always seen my page as my journey from being a crappy novice editor to a somewhat decent one. And, at the end, there is YouTube of course to help you with anything in this day and age if you have a will to learn something.
AB: You haven’t been posting but you’re still active on this account. What makes you want to come here?
Shiningsouls41: Yes I haven’t posted here for a while…One of the reasons is obviously my own life and job and RTO (Return to Office) mandates getting stricter which was not the situation in 2022 or even early 2023. I work as a IT professional so I don’t get much time on weekdays. Plus, recently I have been onto new projects and that is demanding a lot more time. And weekends are getting taken away by my partner LOL – which is also a new addition in my life by the way😅
Second reason would be: I am over BB honestly. That show has degraded so bad that the new seasons/contestants don’t catch my attention and I don’t want to edit other people on this page that’s dedicated to PraNish. And 2024 has been a pretty lull phase in terms of content; and by that I mean content of them two together not separately — because individually they are doing great in their own fields and I wish they continue to do the same…but I miss seeing them together, even though I know everything’s fine with them in terms of their equation.
What makes me want to come here? This is my favourite question, by the way. Yes, I stay active here even when I am not making edits because of the friends that I have made here through that show. A bond that once started off only because of the mutual love we had for these two boys now has surpassed and gone way beyond that. So, one of my close friends here once said, “How will we get to know if something happened to you? We are not aware of each other’s real life day to day updates, we only see each other on social media.” She then came up with a solution. She said, no matter what I should come online at least one time a day on Instagram — and from my active status she would know that I am okay. And if someday I am not here, she assumes that something isn’t right…either I am sick or going through something in my personal life so that way she can check up on me.
And this is not just one isolated example. I have met many people like this here who, from time to time, check up on other people if they see them not being active on Instagram for long periods of time. So the community of friends that I have made here, and their warmth and genuine concern is what makes me come here and be active at least once a day.
AB: You said you know everything’s fine with them in terms of their equation. How do you know that if they haven’t been making their interactions public?
Shiningsouls41: I know everything is fine between them because of three reasons:
a) They comment under each other’s posts. Not frequently, but they do it when they feel like it, and the vibe in those comments is similar to how their equation is.
b) They live pretty close to each other’s locality now after Pratik bought the new apartment, and Pratik’s got a car now too…they have common friends also…Nishu in a media byte conveyed also that they don’t share everything on media now even if they meet each other – so call me delusional but I would happily choose to believe that over any other pessimistic assumption.
c) Let’s be honest here. The things they have been through were huge..not to be explicit, but the fans who have been here from the beginning know all the lore. So, if that couldn’t break their bond I guess nothing else will! I mean, even if they get busy in their own careers and lives I know the day they bump into each other at a party or social gathering they would meet and greet each other the same way because that’s how they always were with each other, and that’s the kind of persons they are as individuals too. So, concluding here by quoting Pratik from one of their initial interviews, “Humare beech mein 10 din baat na bhi ho, 11 din par karenge toh hi-hello nehi seedha gali deke baat shuru hogi” (Even if we don’t talk for 10 days, on the 11th day when we finally talk, we’ll skip the formalities to go straight back to bickering”) kyunki (because), like Bunny [Kabir “Bunny” Thapar] from YJHD [Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani] said “Doston ke beech kuch nehi badalta” (Between friends, nothing changes).
AB: Do you still keep up with these guys?
Shiningsouls41: Yes I still keep up with those two boys because:
a) I am a sucker for gossip. I won’t miss any tea…if there is anything new that’s happening around these two boys. ‘Cause you never know with these two…they are very unpredictable when it comes to hanging out with each other or coming together for an event/show.
b) I obviously still love them. Even if they are silly or cringe sometimes, they are like my kids. I can’t abandon them completely even if they are annoying sometimes, haha 😂
This interview by Anushka Bidani is part of the series, The Fan Page Project.