Punjabi Influencers goss

[classytikkamasala]

This thread is the continuation of the original GG thread about Punjabi influencers who do not have their own thread.

Some examples of influencers for discussion are:
trisdhaliwal, browngirllifts, iisuperwomanii - Lilly Singh, monasangha (Keeping up with Mona), ankita.creates / ankitaa.b, gagan bassi / bassi sisters, simran randhawa, tasmin dhaliwal, harkirat deol, kaurbeauty, raji khaira, pink orchid studio, gurneet dosanjh, evergoldbeauty, kiran rai / kayray, mundheep (& inkquisitive), kaurscloset, seerat saini, priya sidhu, etc.

Some punjabi influencers already have a thread of their own. Please search their names and/or social media handles in the search bar to find their own threads before discussing here.

 

[Renata]

Does anyone know what happens with anila dhami (newsreader). She had a huge very lavish wedding in Dubai, lots of oversharing of the wedding and lovey dovey cringe posts after. It was a destination wedding that lasted days.

then all removed?

married a wealthy guy and lived with in-laws.

I wondered why they had such a big wedding only to remove all footage?

 

[harm124]

Just my opinion but I lost a lot of respect for Inkquisitive after he called someone out on Insta for "copying" his style of work. This person seems to be booked until 2023 and they take their time creating their artwork. I enquired with Ink to get a bespoke piece, charged a ridiculous amount then we were bombarded with emails from his "production manager" saying he has 1 slot left and we should really take it while we have the chance, emails at like 2am? They required the FULL payment upfront even though our piece was going to be based off an image and the event the image was coming from hadn't even happened yet.

Furthermore, has anyone noticed how quickly he creates pieces once there is a world event taking place? Eg the illustration on Rihanna and Modi literally the day after Rihanna tweeted. If he can do that in a day, how is he justifying his costs?

 

[Renata]

@harm124 it goes to show even with followers & engagement he needs to chase down leads.
The fame doesn’t mean an income.

like other influencers (minus his talent) he probably lives in his mums house & has no income. It’s clout.

 

[snmp]

I think we could expand this to desi influencers generally there are so many in my own community (non Punjabi) that grate on me who don’t represent me who have turned influencing into a gimmick

 

[Renata]

Jaspal Sandhu (injection - shere punjab) is the worst.

he drove his first wife to suicide, not sure what happened to the second one. Now he is getting paid to promote dr mani bhardwaj dental studio.

why do intelligent people use thugs to promote their business? No legitimacy at all & damages brand.

he makes out he helps victims of injustices yet he is the one taking young girls on a date (in his car), sexually blackmailing them fir his £800 trainers.

he is using the concept of shame to silence them. If you’re going to be a scammer be one, don’t make out you’re helping people when you only “help” when you’re filming it.

he has 2 daughters yet he treats other peoples young daughters like this. What if someone blackmailed your daughter for £800 trainers? You had better pray karma doesn’t hit you via your daughters. Thug & narcissist.

 

[ggukxo]

Just my opinion but I lost a lot of respect for Inkquisitive after he called someone out on Insta for "copying" his style of work.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t ‘get’ him. His work is very generic and I don’t think it’s anything great. He’s very quick to jump on the bandwagon when major events happen all to boost his own name

 

[wafflesnwings]

Does anyone know what happens with anila dhami (newsreader). She had a huge very lavish wedding in Dubai, lots of oversharing of the wedding and lovey dovey cringe posts after. It was a destination wedding that lasted days.

then all removed?

married a wealthy guy and lived with in-laws.

I wondered why they had such a big wedding only to remove all footage?

I've always been curious about this too; she's quite a sweet person (not sharp, but her heart is in the right place). I'm not 100% sure but it looks as though they might have separated, as she's back to living with her family (none of her in-laws follow her or her family and they don't follow them back either).

 

[Renata]

@wafflesnwings she (anila dhami) is talented & pretty which is why I found it quite cringe when she used to post her Whiney “lovey” dovey conversations with him. It seemed a bit show off, like the expensive wedding. He also was t joining in.

why would such an independent woman go & live with in laws?

if you promote a huge wedding publically you should at least address the separation publically too. Removing it invites more questions.

 

[wafflesnwings]

@wafflesnwings she (anila dhami) is talented & pretty which is why I found it really cringe when she used to post her Whiney “lovey” dovey conversations with him. It seemed a bit show off, like the expensive wedding.

why would such an independent woman go & live with in laws?

if you promote a huge wedding publically you should at least address the separation publically too. Removing it invites more questions.

Without a doubt. The lovey dovey posts were also a bit out of character for her (without saying too much or giving myself away, I'm someone who worked very closely with her). She was always very professional on and off the clock, a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, carried herself very well and showed concern in the world around her (but her joining the Women's Party nearly tanked her journalism career because journalists are supposed to remain unbiased). She never mentioned when she met Reece or how long they'd been together before their engagement and then marriage. It was a shock for lots of us who worked with her, when we all found out on Instagram.
Perhaps it was all life through rose-tinted glasses? If they have separated, I do feel for her. She seemed very in love with him and if it's ended, it must be so hard for her as she holds herself to a very high standard and I noticed that she hides her feelings/emotional pain. I hope that whatever has happened, she is able to work through it

 

[Renata]

This reminds me of the devani case (South African murder of Annie ). The family levelled up their daughter by marrying her to a wealthy guy (ignoring all the red flags). Of course, he is to blame for the murder but they were willing to go to extreme lengths (expensive wedding) & overlook all the signs that came out in the press after. If he was middle class they might have acted on the red flags, instead his wealth brought their silence.

Reece is wealthy, that compensated for his average looks & her living “in house”.

she dated him for over a year & went to India with his mum - did she keep all that quiet?

 

[wafflesnwings]

That case was awful (I heard that a documentary is going to be made about it from the husband's POV ). Yeah she never told any of us about him when they were dating; it was a huge surprise to all of us. I personally thought that they were a mismatched couple. There was a video of her greeting him at an airport in India - apparently they hadn't seen each other in weeks and all they did was give each other a half-hearted hug and a peck on the cheek. That's when I started to think that something was off because if you've not seen your partner or loved one in weeks, you'd do more than just a quick hug and peck!
I know from first-hand experience that her mother had a habit of pushing her and her sisters to be rich and famous. Anila felt quite insecure in comparison to her sisters; especially the one who does modelling, when she really has nothing to be insecure about because all three sisters are accomplished, intelligent and talented in their own way. Her interactions and the sort of things she would tell Anila were very very telling - her mum's IG handle used to be called Richa Dhamashian (says it all really). I think she wanted Anila and Reece to be an Asian power couple, who would be in magazines and popular online and within British Asian communities - because outside of the S.Asian world they aren't really very famous. On a separate note wtf is up with people dating others just to be called 'goals' or a 'power couple?'

 

[Renata]

@wafflesnwings that might explain why there was an article about them as a power couple. Looks like a paid PR feature then for Anila.

for someone so accomplished it’s a shame that her attitude is so backwards then (that you have to marry up for community validation). What’s the point of advocating women’s rights when you’re own thinking is limited to marriage as the pinnacle of success.

she is also friends with Esha babber (daughter of Rpk jewellers & married to a billionaire). It’s clear she is very wealth driven.

Why were they a mismatch?

I agree - he is obviously traditional if he wanted a pretty in-house wife.

 

[Jane1122]

Just my opinion but I lost a lot of respect for Inkquisitive after he called someone out on Insta for "copying" his style of work. This person seems to be booked until 2023 and they take their time creating their artwork. I enquired with Ink to get a bespoke piece, charged a ridiculous amount then we were bombarded with emails from his "production manager" saying he has 1 slot left and we should really take it while we have the chance, emails at like 2am? They required the FULL payment upfront even though our piece was going to be based off an image and the event the image was coming from hadn't even happened yet.

Furthermore, has anyone noticed how quickly he creates pieces once there is a world event taking place? Eg the illustration on Rihanna and Modi literally the day after Rihanna tweeted. If he can do that in a day, how is he justifying his costs?

Someone in my fam also enquired and he was quoted thousands ££££

 

[wafflesnwings]

Omg completely. And even the whole Anila Chowdhury website too that her in-laws paid for with the glamorous photos. It was honestly such a weird match and they didn't seem to have much in common either. I know what you mean @Renata it was such a bizarre decision to have taken and hypocritical given what she stands for/advocates. She is highly educated and not like so many women who just want to be trophy wives to a rich man. She's far too smart for that and I really really hope that her mum wasn't making her feel insecure.
Oh I didn't know that re Esha Babber. She did like to be around the hoipolloi and rich Asians - I saw so much of that at those awards ceremonies they throw. Perhaps she wanted to be like her.

After that, many of us (former colleagues and friends) felt that she firstly wasn't as confident as she showed herself to be and secondly that maybe her mother was living her life through Anila. When she married Reece, she stopped talking to loads of us and cut us off, which is when we started to question her credibility, how authentic she was and how she is as a person. What we realised was not great.
I'm glad she's still got her journalism career to fall back on and build, however, she's not what she makes out to be. Apart from her qualifications and good looks, she is very boring as a person who's all style and no substance - your point on being very wealth-driven is spot on. There were times when she would be presenting a radio show and she would ask guests the most stupid and tone deaf questions. She would also need things to be explained and re-explained to her several times - for someone with her amount of journalist experience it was really shocking. I think she uses things like her career and looks to get through life. There's not much going on inside her head to be very honest (and that's me being polite). I hope that in time, as she grows up and matures, she realises that you can't get through life based on how you look and in such a performative manner. People eventually see through the facade

 

[Jane1122]

I've always been curious about this too; she's quite a sweet person (not sharp, but her heart is in the right place). I'm not 100% sure but it looks as though they might have separated, as she's back to living with her family (none of her in-laws follow her or her family and they don't follow them back either).

How long were they married for? Was this pre covid?

 

[wafflesnwings]

How long were they married for? Was this pre covid?

Not long - maybe a year? They got married before the pandemic and it looks like they separated at some point last year, because all the photos and videos from their wedding aren't on her socials or his or her mother-in-law's (Rita Chowdhury). Their wedding hashtag Renila (it's something odd like that) should still be live with photos and videos because loads of people attended their wedding and events in Dubai

 

[Renata]

I’m surprised. I thought she was intelligent.

it seems the journalism is a front for exposing herself to a wider audience (men)

She seemed to be more than a trophy wife yet that’s all she strives for? Very misleading.

Reece is privately educated & may have seen through her after marriage.

I suspect her family (who seem lower middle class) paid for half the week long wedding as part of the deal. Rich families tend to do that.

Esha Babber might be loaded (via her dad and then husband) but she seems low-key in comparison.

 

[wafflesnwings]

I’m surprised. I thought she was intelligent.

it seems the journalism is a front for exposing herself to a wider audience (men)

She seemed to be more than a trophy wife yet that’s all she strives for? Very misleading.

Reece is privately educated & may have seen through her after marriage.

I suspect her family (who seem lower middle class) paid for half the week long wedding as part of the deal. Rich families tend to do that.

Esha Babber might be loaded (via her dad and then husband) but she seems low-key in comparison.

I'm starting to think so too and I saw a lot of that at award ceremonies and events, where rich Asian men were. There were times I felt second-hand embarrassment when I would overhear the things Anila's mother would tell her - things like who to talk to, how to behave and how she should always be dressed to the nines no matter what (she turned up to one awards ceremony massively overdressed and I heard her crying to her mum about it in the ladies' bathroom). When they got married, she wasn't as vocal and even now, she seems quite lost in herself and like she doesn't know who she is outside of journalism and being a glamorous clothes horse. It's a shame to see; she actually has so much potential and if she built her confidence up, was honest with herself, brushed up on her world knowledge and overcame her insecurities, she could do more than present for channel 5 and small-time Asian media outlets. She has what it takes to go the States and do TV presenting there (lots of their presenters tend to be former beauty queens, like Shally Zomorodi, so she would fit in).

Yes he's from a very rich family (I found this article about them: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...ls-run-family-like-blue-chip-corporation.html) and his mum is a bit of a Tiger Mum. Re paying for the wedding, I think so too. One of my friends, who used to be very close with her, said that the reason they picked Dubai as a wedding destination was so that Anila's family could afford to pay their end - her parents are business owners but def not in the same income level as Reece's parents.

 

[classytikkamasala]

I think we could expand this to desi influencers generally there are so many in my own community (non Punjabi) that grate on me who don’t represent me who have turned influencing into a gimmick

there's a thread for pakistani influencers but i can make one for a different community also? i think punjabi influencers have a very specific audience in the majority of their following so that's why i put punjabi for this one! and most of them interact with/collab with each other

Furthermore, has anyone noticed how quickly he creates pieces once there is a world event taking place? Eg the illustration on Rihanna and Modi literally the day after Rihanna tweeted. If he can do that in a day, how is he justifying his costs?

this always confused me too, but i think what people are paying for now is how big he's gotten, so he probably wouldn't charge the same as a smaller artist. personally i'm not such a huge fan of his art and style but that's just me lol. reminds me of another sikh artist, i don't remember his name but he's quite big, shown in galleries and exhibitions in uk. he was approached to contribute art as seva for a gurdwara exhibition and he was still charging thousands. wish i could remember his name

sidenote, i was so surprised to see gurnaz (itsgurnaz) in honsla rakh! i feel like she has grown very quickly, but even so it's not THAT often that instagram influencers are given roles in punjabi movies! punjabi music videos yeah all the time, but movies not very often at all. last one i remember is Tannu Kaur Gill. but gurnaz was given a role in a diljit movie which is crazy to me!