Sonal Singh dives into her new show about living the life of a girlboss

What does a filmmaker and a startup have in common Even though both the professions are poles apart at the germ of both is creativity Thatrsquos how entrepreneur Sonal Singh first took on the role of Sanya Mittal the star of the new hit microdrama FoundHer a show about a girlboss who gets kicked out of her own startup that she built from scratchAt 40 Singh left her own startup Fittr an online health platform to pursue this newfound passion of filmmaking ldquoIrsquove always been a writer but I had never written a screenplay So I started with the concept of lsquowrite what you knowrsquo What came naturally was a story set in the startup ecosystem about a woman navigating life after leaving her companyrdquo she saysSingh wrote codirected produced and starred in her series which has now gained over 5 lakh views on her Instagram handle masalacappuccino The writing she says was the most cathartic part ldquoThe writing was my favourite part Just all the different characters you meet a composite of them and the experiences that yoursquove hadrdquo While FoundHer is fictional Singh is clear that it is ldquoemotionally truthfulThe characters events the company thatrsquos all imagined But the emotions the power dynamics the loneliness that one feels after public success the way women are judged differently in those situations thatrsquos very realrdquoSonal SinghInstead of choosing the safer route of podcasts or interviewled content Singh chose the relatively new and risky format of microdramas ldquoI was really interested in microdramas I saw they were gaining attention in China and then the USrdquo she says What intrigued her was the contradiction of shrinking attention spans and deep emotional impact ldquoIn a 90second reel you can carry shock humour and heartbreakrdquoInstagram was the perfect home for this kind of storytelling ldquoYoursquore constantly scrolling past confidence and motivational stuff especially podcasts I thought what if someone stops on something that is more about vulnerabilityrdquoMaking the series meant entering an entirely new world ldquoIt is intimidating especially as an outsider because I had no background in filmmaking per serdquo she admits ldquoOften people assumed I was there to fund projects Theyrsquod say lsquoAre you going to produce something for usrsquo And Irsquod say lsquoNo Irsquom making something of my ownrsquordquoshe laughsWhat helped her push through was her founder mindset ldquoI learned really quickly that your script is almost like a pitch deck The stronger your script and your vision the more likely you will attract the right peoplerdquo She was also clear that she wanted to retain control ldquoThere was a particular story that I wanted to tell It should be told in a certain way That typeA control freak personality was also thererdquo she jokesThe team came together through cold emails and wordofmouth ldquoThatrsquos the beauty of Mumbai If yoursquore relentless and you have a vision things can really happenrdquo There were delays setbacks and even runins with the cops on set But there were also moments of quiet validation like the day she held a physical copy of her script for the first time She says with a wide smile ldquoI was like oh my God Irsquove never seen my script printed beforerdquoWith no fulltime team Singh ended up learning far more than she had planned to ldquoIrsquove even learned how to edit myself Irsquom nowhere near as good as the experts but I can do a rough edit now I understand the termsrdquo Nevertheless she is extremely grateful to her team and ldquothe people who trusted me mdash actors people in postproduction mdash who helped me and explained the process to me so patientlyrdquoThe response to FoundHer has been overwhelming and surprisingly universal ldquoItrsquos appealing to both men and women and a lot of people beyond the founder universerdquo she says ldquoAt its core the show is not just about startups Itrsquos really about when you face loss and humiliation and how you reinvent yourself from the ground uprdquoAs for whatrsquos next Singh already has a larger vision in mind ldquoSeason one is more about loss And then the reinvention part comes in season two I want it to become a culturally relevant story with the potential to grow into a larger narrative universerdquo