What’s this behaviour, Pujaa?

Pujarini Pradhan aka LifeOfPujaa on Instagram was the Internetrsquos darling till last week A girlnextdoor with opinions any average feminist would hold Her raw grounded footage is what first attracted followers And people loved it Her content takes you inside her living room her kitchen showcases her latest read or watch mdash pretty normal stuff rightBut trust the Internet to turn it into discourse It all started when Niharika Jain a therapist asked questions about Pujarsquos rise to creator fameSneha RoyPujaa started posting from a new account in September 2025 By December she had grown to 300000 followers and then that number more than doubled hitting over 600000 followers in March 2026 Itrsquos now been a week since Puja became the subject of conspiracy theories which has now added over 100000 more followers to her accountPujaa nahi toh koi dujaNiharika Jainrsquos account has gone private after receiving backlash for questioning Puja and her authenticity which makes the video inaccessible We watched it when it was still publicJain in her video asks whether Pujaa is an industry plant questioning how she could articulate nuanced opinions despite speaking imperfect EnglishJain felt there was something ldquooffrdquo about Pujaa And how someone like Pujaa mdash a homemaker from East Midnapore in West Bengal mdash has time to shoot script and edit videos has a taste for cinematic frames and colour grades her videos aesthetically So it must only mean that someone else might be doing it for herViraj ShethJoining in on this was journalist Aishwarya Subramanyam Otherwarya on the Internet who posted a threepart video which began with ldquoIs Puja an industry plantrdquo referencing Jainrsquos takeSubramanyam neither supports nor really disses Puja instead she tells the audience not to care as much about the parasocial relationships they have with creators And to question them repeatedlyTo follow or not to followPujaa seems to have more fans than haters But is her content actually worth followingHer doeeyed appearance paired with sharp takes on patriarchy is loved but many others are mostly indifferentSneha Roy a PhD researcher says she loves Pujaarsquos content because shersquos a typical girl next door ldquoShersquos wellversed in her arguments and she made me realise that life doesnrsquot have to end after marriagerdquo she says adding Puja doesnrsquot need to be saved she has already saved herself I like that she never felt the need to change her background her appearance or present herself as anyone different She never found the need to adhere to upper class sensibilitiesrdquoFrom left Influencer Aishwarya Subramanyam and therapist Niharika Jain posted videos questioning lifeofpujaarsquos authenticityThen there are others supportive of her views but who find her consumption of films and books too curated Sohini Chaudhury an assistant director in the Hindi film industry says ldquoSometimes I feel like her content is a little pretentioushellip She talks about movies that are actually very hard for someone to know about without any access to a proper film school or film education There are some recommendations that even film students wouldnrsquot knowrdquoDoes this mean that Puja is practising authenticity instead of being authentic Well thatrsquos exactly what the Internet is debating onPujaarsquos being humanThe content creator has had a rapidly growing audience and equally growing aspirations In one of her earlier videos in September 2025 she says ldquoI love it not because itrsquos about money or famehellip I enjoy itrdquoIn November Puja writes ldquoIrsquoll never be an influencer Irsquom too shyrdquo But by then one could say that she was already oneNow a few months later she has monetised her fame and audience through brand deals with Audible India Canva Netflix India Blue Heaven Cosmetics and moreShubhi Raina Lakshita Shivhare and Prerna SubramanianBy December in a reel where shersquos approaching 300000 followers she talks about how she wishes to buy land in her own name with the money she makes through content creationCritics could say that Puja is feigning authenticity but one could argue that Puja is simply human Shersquos dreaming big as she continues to get opportunities And is that so wrongThe influencer brand audience nexusAny consistent creator on the Internet is bound to grow eventually in all aspects of content creation Viraj Seth cofounder and CEO of MonkE a creator agency says ldquoOur tip to all creators mdash metro or nonmetro mdash is to not go overboard with production People want raw hazy unfiltered content especially in todayrsquos world of oversupply of AI slop But as every creator finds financial stability they want to upgrade themselvesrdquoIndiarsquos Internet is no longer metrofirst According to the Internet in India Report 2025 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India IAMAI and Kantar 57 per cent approximately 548 million of the countryrsquos 958 million active Internet users are from rural IndiaYashodha Lodhi a YouTuber better known as Dehati Madam became popular for teaching English in a simple mannerBrands are paying attention to creators from tier2 and rural India too ldquoTheir videos bring out participation The real power of these creators does not lie in trending reels or visuals but in their influence through their culturally rooted content The comments are more real conversations and not just reactionsrdquo says Shubhi Raina creative director at Creator18Why do brands work with nonmetro creators Raina says itrsquos because ldquoThey creators donrsquot just show the product and its benefits but also focus more on how it fits in their life as well The narrative is different from urban creatorsrdquo Creator agencies help brands keep the focus on the vernacular narratives and authenticityAapko English kaise aati haiThe scrutiny Pujarsquos content gets from city folk is common for creators from smaller towns and rural regions Itrsquos rooted in the stereotype that nonmetro residents donrsquot speak English and donrsquot have opinions on societyLakshita Shivhare a creative associate at a production company in Mumbai moved to the city from Gwalior The first response she received from a college classmate in Mumbai was ldquoMumbai ke bahar toh sab kuch gaanv hi hai Everything outside of Mumbai is a villagerdquo ldquoThey were surprised to know I knew what Dominos is or Starbucks or any luxury brand they knew as wellrdquo she saysIt left Shivhare zapped to discover the bubble her classmates lived in ldquoPeople here have no idea what life is like outside itrdquo she says She admits that she felt she was at a disadvantage but life after college has proved it otherwiseIn the same manner Yashodha Lodhi a YouTuber better known as Dehati Madam became popular for teaching English in a simple manner Her surroundings often her kitchen and her village Sirathu Kaushambi Uttar Pradesh drew comments like ldquoShe must be going to the village to shoot videosrdquoLodhi admits that she is a homemaker a Class 12 graduate and only began learning English and content production when her husband met with an accident ldquoI began looking for ideas where I could stay at home and make money Thatrsquos when I learned about YouTube and content creation I watched videos began teaching myself English and also learnt how to create contentI tried a few other channels which didnrsquot really work eventually English with Dehati Madam picked uprdquo she saysThree years into learning the language and being a creator people are still surprised that her diction and understanding of the language are remarkableWhy so uncomfortable broIt all boils down to the urban bias we carry When Niharika Jain questioned Pujarsquos authenticity she didnrsquot simply ask how a villager speaks English has a college education understands concepts like patriarchy or feminism or has aspirations mdash but she might as well haveldquoTo me the reactions display how class online continues to be interpreted through a strictly regulated visual and linguistic frameworkrdquo says Dr Prerna Subramanian a professor at a law school in Delhi and a PhD in Cultural Studies from Queenrsquos University CanadaldquoWhile audiences claim to pose innocent questions about authenticity they are frequently assessing whether a woman remains within the social boundaries they have predetermined for her When she surpasses these boundariesmdashher English is too fluent her aesthetic too cohesive her selfpresentation too deliberate or her aspirations too apparent mdash questions about authenticity often solidify into suspicionrdquo she says And isnrsquot that exactly what Puja has doneIndian audiences tend to hold many fixed ideas of what rural or smalltown India sounds and looks like Proficiency in English a refined taste or even clarity in concepts are often seen as inherent urban traitsSubramanian says ldquoThis occurs because articulation in India is still widely misconstrued as an inherited trait rather than the result of labourrdquo Audiences initially celebrate and support nonmetro creators regarding them as underdogs But the minute they see them turn into creators evolving or achieving monetary success they are quick to scream foulSubramanian says ldquoFor me this occurs because modesty is accepted only when it remains easily recognisable and functional for the audience Audiences frequently celebrate underdog narratives but this support is highly conditionalrdquoLodhi who is also from a village in Uttar Pradesh says ldquoI have met so many villagers especially homemakers who started creating content despite doing all the household chores They work on their dreams speak fluent Englishhellip So itrsquos an incorrect perception We have also completed our education many women too are postgraduates I think people need to understand that your education doesnrsquot matterWhat matters is how do you use your education How you use your knowledge We are just using our knowledge Thatrsquos it There should be no discriminationrdquoGet off my back says PujaaOn the platform X Puja has publicly posted that she will not be entertaining any interviews around the discourseOn Instagram she posted her response three days after she became the subject of Jainrsquos videos mdash with subtle humour and cheek as is her styleIn her video Puja clarifies that she scripts shoots and edits her videos and that it takes her roughly 2030 minutes to do so The fact that shersquos colour grading her videos she asks ldquolike itrsquos hardrdquo mdash a line that is being compared to Resse Witherspoonrsquos character Elle Woods from Legally BlondePuja has also been transparent about working with an agency which has brought her consistent brand deals These are all explanations expected out of Puja to shut down her naysayers But are they necessary Especially when creators from urban towns are not subjected to the same scrutiny despite producing highly polished videosPuja for now is carrying on with her life and has posted another reel with a brand deal with Zomatorsquos District At the end she has boldly added credits Shot by Puja Directed by Puja Edited by Puja1 Lakh more followers gained by Pujaa since she became the subject of conspiracy theories