Look, ma, I'm famous!

A designer, actor, musician, content creator and chef, explain what it means to be popular and recognised today

- Karishma Kuenzang

In the world of show business, Ayesha Kanga, 27, is practically brand new. She debuted with Netflix's Class in February. Already, there are 104K followers on Instagram. On a recent trip to Jaipur, she was stopped at least 10 times by fans seeking a selfie.

"I thought, I should probably start dressing better," says Kanga, laughing. She hadn't planned to be famous. The design graduate wanted to be a creative director, make art and live off her laptop. She started modelling "because I'm tall and skinny". When the agency asked her to audition for the show, she did it out of boredom.

"We were 11 newcomers in the remake of the hit Spanish series, Elite," she recalls. "People would either hate it or love it. I thought we'd just be ignored - I'm a Negative Nelly that way. The attention is a complete slap in the face." Kanga admits to feeling awkward around bigname celebrities and creating a public persona. Helping her cope is her mother, Suneeta Kanga. She follows her daughter's co-stars on social media and comments on their pictures. "My family is starstruck. They are living their Bollywood fantasy through me, with questions about Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan and Tiger Shroff. Of course, I spill the tea!" she says.

Right now, Kanga is so fresh to fame, even the hate messages are a novelty. "No one has cared about me enough to hate me online before!"

The grudging celebrity
Taba Chake

Fingerstyle guitarist and singer Taba Chake, 31, made his debut in 2016 with his EP, Bond with Nature. He followed it up with the 2019 album Bombay Dreams, which got over 25 million streams on Spotify. Earlier this year, his Reel, covering Harry Styles' As It Was, got more than 1 lakh views in a few days. On the Bengaluru leg of his album tour in 2019, he lost his voice on stage due to the flu. Fans simply filled in, singing as he played.