Srishti Dixit admits she would ‘initially feel threatened’ by competition: ‘Back to square one after jumping to acting from content creation’

Reminiscing about her journey, Srishti Dixit said that she came to Mumbai after her graduation for a one-year course in journalism. As a young adult, she was hoping to get a job as a reporter and planned to join a theatre group to satisfy the acting bug in her. “Back then there was no concept of creating videos. People had just started posting on Facebook and as I was working with a publication, we too tried it and it blew up. I was really happy because that gave me an avenue to perform. But honestly, I always thought that it would be the extent of my acting job. I never imagined that I would be giving full-fledged auditions or be on the set of a fiction show. I have always been a realistic person and I knew there are so many better actors, trained actors around me. Hence, to do longer format projects, and play different characters makes me really happy.”

While she continues on her journey, Srishti confessed that she’s still not confident seeing herself on screen. Sharing that she ‘cringes’ every time she watches herself, it’s a challenge at the moment to stop worrying about how she looks than focus on the project from a macro perspective. She also shared that as she decided to venture into acting, she’s gone back to square one. “Even when I have a certain amount of recognition, a certain following, I have to struggle as a newcomer. I am going out, meeting people and that’s another kind of struggle. I have been trying for a long time to act. Also, there are times when you know you deserve certain opportunities and then facing rejection but bouncing back again — I am learning all of it. Fortunately, I am insanely privileged that I have another job that I like and that makes things a little better for me.”

Over the last couple of years, there has been a surge of influencers and content creators on social media. While Srishti Dixit admitted that she expected competition, it did leave her threatened initially. Sharing that she and her contemporaries always knew that fame and popularity are never permanent and thus worked towards branching out or having other avenues of income. “The aim was always to keep the creativity alive. And that helped me in my attempt to become an actor as I have been trying out parts that are not specifically comedy. One has to focus on their energies in the right direction,” she shared, adding that one’s consistency and talent always see them through in life.

“Newer people will always come in, whichever industry you work in. For me, it came during the second wave of the pandemic, when I was starting to feel a little burnout and had stepped back from creating content actively. Suddenly there were lot of creators doing the things that I would have done. Honestly, I used to feel threatened back then. But now, I am a 30-year-old woman, who has grown and evolved. I also realised there would be some people who will continue to relate to me and my stories. My relevance is not going to go away yet. It’s just that I need to be authentic and real with whatever I am doing,” Srishti signed off.