It’s a regular morning in the home of dentist Arpana Anand. The kids have left for school, her husband is in the shower, and she’s eating breakfast with her Instagram feed for company. Hurriedly scrolling over the advertisements, she stops to see the new post by Allu Sneha Reddy, who lights up the screen in a grey-gold double toned satin saree paired with a beaded sleeveless blouse that sports a tuft of embellished fabric as an unusual design element. Anand quickly adds the profile of the designer and the look to her saved folder for future reference. “I love taking style inspiration from Sneha. Her feed is so relatable and she looks gorgeous in everything she wears. As I’m also a mother of two based in Hyderabad, my style is quite like hers, so I often emulate her looks for social gatherings or work events.”
Sneha Reddy (@allusnehareddy — 8.4M followers), wife of Telugu superstar Allu Arjun, is one of a handful of star wife influencers who are now calling the shots on India’s social media landscape. She is joined by the likes of Riteish Deshmukh’s wife Genelia (@geneliad — 10.4M followers), Akshay Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna (@twinklerkhanna — 6.7M followers), Ram Charan’s wife Upasana Kaminineni Konidela (@upasanakaminenikonidela — 5.7M followers), Shahid Kapur’s wife Mira (@mira.kapoor — 3.9M followers), Kannada actor Yash’s wife Radhika Pandit (@iamradhikapandit — 2.5M followers), Mahesh Babu’s wife Namrata Shirodkar (@namratashirodkar — 2.5M followers), and Suriya’s wife Jyotika (@jyotika - 2.1M followers), among others. It is commendable that these new age star wives have cemented their place as sought-after influencers. Their sudden and monumental rise to the top is a relatively new phenomenon. After all, even Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri (@gaurikhan — 4.4M followers) took a while to carve a niche for herself as a trendsetter.
Radhika Pandit
Senior fashion journalist, author and moderator, Sujata Assomull clarifies, “While the word ‘influencer’ began to be used in a modern context only a few years ago, the word ‘influence’ goes back centuries. It was used to describe someone who has the capability to influence the decisions of others, someone who was seen as a thought leader or someone whose opinion counted. So, influence has been around for a while, but social media took it to the next level with the term ‘influencer’. Earlier, the luxury market sectors would refer to them as ‘conduits’, ‘key opinion leaders’ or ‘conductors’.”
In the context of young star wives, she shares, “It’s important to go back in time to assess the reason for their rise in popularity. There was a time when male stars would hide their wives from the limelight because they felt they would lose their appeal if people knew too much about their personal lives. Things started changing with Gauri Khan and Sussanne Khan. They appeared together on one of the early episodes of Koffee with Karan, and heralded this change, which happened over years gradually.”
She is correct in her assessment, as the previous generation of star wives did not have the means to share an honest picture of themselves with a widespread audience. At best, they came into public knowledge when their lives were briefly covered by media publications, or when they were photographed at events. There was certainly no sharing of ‘What-I-Eat-In-A-Day’ or ‘Get-Ready-With-Me’ for red-carpet events. The arrival of social media channels allowed a rare and candid behind-the scenes glimpse into the lives of those who were previously presented as being only ‘glamorous’ at all times. This new crop of star wives also readily took to these mediums to promote their sartorial styles, share motherhood tips, or endorse a variety of products that are in line with their personas.
However, Sujata is quick to point out that bearing a famous name can only get you so far. “It depends on the individual’s personality. You can get on to social media if you’re a star wife and people will follow you for that appeal, but they won’t continue to follow you or listen to what you have to say unless you have an interesting personality. Great examples of this are Genelia Deshmukh and Mira Kapoor, where you see something of their lives and personalities through their content. Mira is especially popular because very little was known about her before her marriage, so people were curious to know the person who married Shahid Kapoor."
Market studies further strengthen this assessment. Three factors play a determinative role on the psychology of buyers picking items endorsed by celebrities. Foremost of these is trust in the celebrity, followed by their credibility built through other endorsements and their overall likeability. Hence, certain star wives make better influencers than others. An additional factor is the expertise they may possess in a particular field, which is perhaps the reason why star wives who are mothers of young children, prefer to become ‘mom influencers’.
Upasana Kaminineni Konidela
Ultimately, everyone enjoys following an aesthetic feed on the ‘gram, replete with glimpses of the daily lives of those we aspire to be. This is the true nature of ‘influence’ in a social media context. The star names attached to these profiles are simply an added bonus.
Arpana Anand, dentist: “I love taking style inspiration from Allu Sneha. Her feed is so relatable and she looks gorgeous in everything she wears. As I’m also a mother of two based in Hyderabad, my style is quite like hers, so I often emulate her looks for social gatherings or work events.”
Sujata Assomull, Senior fashion journalist, author and moderator: “It’s important to go back in time to assess the reason for their rise in popularity. There was a time when male stars would hide their wives from the limelight because they felt they would lose their appeal if people knew too much about their personal lives. Things started changing with Gauri Khan and Sussanne Khan. They appeared together on one of the early episodes of Koffee with Karan, and heralded this change, which happened over years gradually.”
The previous generation of star wives did not have the means to share an honest picture of themselves with a widespread audience. There was certainly no sharing of ‘What-I-Eat-In-A-Day’ or ‘Get-Ready-With-Me’... The arrival of social media channels allowed a rare behind-the scenes glimpse into the lives of those who were previously presented as being only ‘glamorous’ at all times. This new crop of star wives also readily took to these mediums to promote their sartorial styles, share motherhood tips, or endorse a variety of products that are in line with their personas.
