I’ve had the pleasure to sit down and converse with some incredibly talented creators, creators who work tirelessly to help others, creators who made it just at 16 and so many more. This Ask Me Anything session was different.
Yes, he is a creator (and an actor, filmmaker, business owner and writer) but he is also the champion of the LGBTQ+ community.
This session was about getting insight into what it takes for a creator to break the set path and make their mark. Any creator struggling to get their voice heard on a marginalised issue, learn from Nakshatra’s journey.
How did Nakshatra Bagwe get into content creation?
Nakshatra’s content typically revolves around educating people on the LGBTQ+ community. Did he set out to be the face of the community?
No, it was happenstance. One sleepless night led to the creation of a story about how gay men make fake social media profiles to find their partners. That one handy camera film won international awards, and there was no looking back.
What made him carry on with content creation?
His followers. And creator, pay heed. It is always your community that builds you up!
For Nakshatra, it was a message from a person living in the Sundarbans area. The follower mentioned that Nakshatra’s content helped him. And that was when he realised with content creation; he could touch someone’s life and offer support – something sorely lacking in the LGBTQ+ community.
The lesson here for creators? Focus on building content that helps your community and the rest will follow
Is difficult to be a gay influencer?
Nakshatra Bagwe bluntly says that there was a time when brands did not even entertain creators from the community. After Section 377, that did change.
Brands accepted that LGBTQ+ are a target audience. For that and the name of inclusion, brand collaborations started rolling in.
His mantra for creators, straight or gay, keep fighting and don’t give up.
How to deal with trolls, abuse and negative comments?
He’s been fortunate as a creator. He rarely gets hostile, harsh or abusive comments. He feels it’s because he doesn’t indulge in arguing with people.
He accepts that he can’t change people who don’t even divulge their identity on the internet – the trolls, and the faceless accounts. So, instead of wasting his time on them, he works on those he can change.
He accepts that there have been some instances and he blocks such accounts.
Which brand collaboration was his most memorable?
That’s DaMENSCH because the brand takes more than a token interest in the LGBTQ+ community. They walked the talk with their Pride Collection, the first Indian brand to do it.
Another is a recent project with the UN. He’s collaborating with them to talk about COVID, HIV/AIDS and LBTGQ+ community.
How and why did he branch into creating a travelling company for gay and bisexual men?
Because he realised that gay and bisexual men could only be themselves when like-minded people surround them, that gave him the impetus to start the business.
My Take from the session:
The competition of he/she/they get more Likes than me is real on social media. It stresses you out, takes you away from the real world, and you start living a very different online world.
Nakshatra says that should not happen. Your online world shouldn’t take over your reality.
- So, do not compare.
- Focus on your content and your strengths.
- Find a genre that’s natural and honest to you. For Nakshatra Bagwe, that was LGBTQ.
