It’s not Orry’s fault. It’s ours

Socialite, internet personality, and social media influencer Orhan Awatramani, better known as Orry. Pic/Instagram/@orry

Mereko darr lagta hai ameeron se baat karne mein," documentarian and creators Kavya Karnatac tells Orry, who she recently interviewed for her channel, KK Create. He innocently asks her, "Why"? And she says because they may not have seen many things, "like caste". And he says, "Oh, I get casted all the time." And she laughs.

A laugh she will repeat many times during this unnecessary interaction. Because, really, what else is there to do?

This exchange above starts off the podcast - in a way setting up Orry as the representative of the elite, and Kavya standing up for the middle class, the people who roam around in the gandagi bindaas. And Orry, like the social media guru he is, gives advice on how to hang with beautiful people in their beautiful homes, "Just be confident in yourself. No one is going to bite you." Then they debate what sells: "negativity," says Orry; "hyper positivity," says Kavya. Orry's example for this was that he didn't shake the hands of a girl who looked like a "nose digger", instead fist-bumping her. And then calls her negative for sharing that in a Reel she went on to make. "Human beings like nothing better than seeing others suffering". He then says, "Boys shouldn't wear makeup." And she laughs again.

It's a long podcast that talks of his family, his interactions with the police, and the hate he has got from the trans community, and why exactly he is famous. In Orry's defence, he handles everything with the confidence he preached. Sometimes, he feels he is misunderstood, and sometimes he feels like he should be allowed his opinion based on his understanding of things. You can disagree with him, but he is coherent and straight about what he believes. As far as his fame goes, he says: "Look at my body of work. Virality ends. I am still here." He doesn't care about what you, me, or the trolls think. But all this, we knew about Orry. What's new?

In the last section of the podcast, he talks about the money he makes, and that's where it gets truly disturbing. Last month, he made Rs 76 lakh on one brand Reel. He says because he is very "specific", he can't be anyone else! He is the "brand" - he is the one that the "one per cent", the celebrities, the elite consume. He also won't say no to any kind of brand, because as he says, "I love attention, and I want to be loved." You can also pay to spend time with him. "For Rs 15 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, you can buy me for lunch, buy me for dinner - it's an experience you can buy."

What's disturbing for me is not that he makes money. That's great for him. What's disturbing to me is that people are paying Rs 76 lakh to Orry for a Reel. Really? Hello brands, can't that Rs 76 lakh be used on some sort of social development? And if you are paying Rs 15-Rs 20 lakh to Orry to be his friend, why not pay a few thousand to a therapist to ask: Why do you need Orry as a friend? Why do you need that validation that comes from having Orry as a friend?

With Kavya, I just have one issue - she didn't really ask him a question about the damage social media, this kind of virality, this kind of validation, and this kind of social media personality do to the whole idea of self? She smiled, she laughed, she indulged, and she nudged around the difficult questions. But that's her cross to bear.

I would also ask what this podcast accomplished, beyond the viral reels and views. What was the need for this podcast at this time, after Orry has been around for a long time? Why did we need to hear Orry say the same things he has been saying for a while? It's just adding to the clutter and the chaos of social media, which is already rife with brain rot.

All I took from it: Orry says he is a "poor rich kid" - raised to save, not spend. He saves everything!

I will try and do that too, Orry. Thank you.

See you next week.

Ranting and raving about all that's trending on social media, Aastha Atray Banan is an author, creator, podcaster, and the Editor of your favourite weekend read, Sunday mid-day. She posts at
@aasthaatray on Instagram.
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